What the Night Will Bring
by Veggie's Girl
Summary: Cat's out the bag. Will Bulma and Vegeta know how to handle it?
1. Sleepless in Satan City

What the Night Will Bring

What the Night Will Bring

by Veggie's Girl

Disclaimer:Dragonball Z and all of its characters are not owned by me (unfortunately), but are the property of Akira Toriyama.So please don't sue me, as if I'm not poor enough already...

Well, I've had this idea floated around in this little hentai mind of mine for a while.If any of you people have seen the movie "Cat People" or "Ladyhawk", this is pretty much it, just exchange the characters with DBZ characters, and insert some lemony filler ^_~ Yes, this has lemon.Just to let you know, this story happens before Trunks is born.Hope you like it.But go easy on me, this is my first fanfic, so please be gentle. =o)

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Chapter 1: Sleepless in Satan City

The silk sheets were drenched in their sweat; the room was filled with their moans and screams, coming mostly from Bulma, with the occasional growl from her Saiyajin partner.Her hands gripped fistfuls of the sheets, as if trying to hold on to the pleasure Vegeta was giving her longer.Their bodies locked together, their ki flaring around them in a golden hue.Bulma's legs were tightly wrapped around Vegeta's powerful torso as he rocked them together as one.Her head was in the crook of Vegeta's neck muffling her piercing screams of pleasure.Both reaching their climax for the seventh time, Vegeta released himself into Bulma, their juices swirling together.Nearly falling onto Bulma, Vegeta managed to fall to the side after pulling out of Bulma (it's pretty surprising they only had 2 kids, huh? ^_~).They were in each others arms now, shivering a little from exhaustion..Both were pretty dazed until Bulma turned over in Vegeta's embrace to glace at the clock next to their bed.

"Wow......"

"What is it, woman?" Vegeta replied, while slowly inhaling the sweet smell of Bulma's hair.*Kuso...* Vegeta thought, *I already want her again....*

"We broke our own record again.3 hours straight." she said with a lop sided grin.

"Fragile human," he said while nipping her neck, "We Saiyajins can go on for days before growing tired of mating." Vegeta said as he turned Bulma over to look at her azure blue eyes, and then kissing her.Giving in to the kiss for a sec, she pulled away to see Vegeta with that royal-pain-in-the-ass smirk on his angular face.

"You're very assuming."

"And I always get what I want, woman..." he said as he pulled her closer to him to grind his hips against hers, but not entering her.Pushing him away (which was not a very easy task) Bulma whined,

"Vegeta, please!!!I'm sore enough as it is.I would prefer to WALK to work tomorrow.And we just did it for 3 hours!! LET ME SLEEP!!!" she whispered violently, moving her hips without even knowing she was doing so.

"Oh no you don't.Like I said, I ALWAYS get what I want, little one.And you're my next target."Catching her fists in his, he kissed her hard on her lips to stop her whining.She struggled to get out of his grasp, but it was to no avail.She gave in to Vegeta's kiss, opening up his lips to slip in her tongue to meet his.All the while, Vegeta's hands slipped under the covers to spread Bulma's legs apart and rolled on top of her, not breaking the passionate kiss.Ending the kiss, he lightly nips her nose, receiving a bite on his chin in return.

"Ready, woman?"

"I'm always ready, you pain in the ass." She managed to get out before her mind shut down.

Else where.....

"18!!" he shrieks over the intercom. "Come to the lab immediately!!"Releasing the "send" button on the intercom, he rests in the over stuffed chair until the blonde android appeared though the door of the lab room a few moments later.Her unemotional blue eyes sought him out to find him staring out the window gazing over Satan City.

"You called?" she asked impatiently with her hands on her hips.

"Yes.It's time, 18.The DNA is ready, and all we need is the guinea pig.I have someone in mind.But first, call your brother.We will need his help."

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They were side by side in their king side bed, Bulma wrapped in Vegeta's embrace.Both were exhausted after their interesting night.Bulma's hair was flared out on her pillow to look like a halo of aqua curls.The curtains billowed slightly as the balcony door slid open silently.Bulma shivered in her sleep slightly in the cold breeze.The ki-less shadows stood side by side examining their prey.Slowly, with a certain evil grace, they walked into the bedroom of the sleeping couple; one on each side of the bed.With a nod of one's head, they each grabbed one sleeping figure.Even with his Saiyajin senses, Vegeta couldn't ward off their stealthy attack.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?!" screamed the Saiyajin prince as he was jerked from sleep.17 had grabbed him under the arms, rendering him immobile.But that wouldn't stop Vegeta from going Super Saiyajin, his golden aura blasting around him.17 struggled to hold on to the crazed Saiyajin prince.Vegeta looked to where his mate had laid on the bed only a minute ago, only to find 18 with Bulma over her shoulder, unconscious, after injecting her with a fast acting tranquilizer.His fury almost at his peak, Vegeta's rage broke 17's hold on him, pushing 17 against the wall, but it was too late.With a smirk on her face, 18, 17, and Bulma disappeared into the night.Through his blind rage, trying to find Bulma's ki was all but impossible.Vegeta's howl of rage pierced the air, coming from the deepest part of his soul.

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Goku suddenly jerked up in his bed.He had suddenly felt an enormous burst of ki.It felt like Vegeta's!He had to find out what had set him off to go Super Saiyajin.Practically ripping the sheets off of him and dressed in his gi in under 5 seconds, he flew out the window, leaving only a burst of blue energy where he had been, taking off for Capsule Corp."ByeChichigottagoberightbackloveyou!" he shouted on his way out.Chichi, just waking up, looked out through the window.

"Goku-saa?" she breathed.


	2. Captive

Chapter 2: Captivity

Chapter 2:Captivity

Rage twisted his royal face as he gripped his hair tightly in his fists, shaking with barely controlled wrath.*FUCK!!! I will kill those with the insolence to step in to my home and capture my mate!!!*He looked out the window.Grudgingly, he knew that he could do this alone.As much as he hated to admit it, if beings had the strength to hold him, yet had no ki to speak of, then he would need Kakarotto's help.For all he knew, she was dead by now, the one thing that kept him from blowing up this ball of crap they call Chikyuu.Suddenly, his flaring hair was upright once more.A high power level was approaching him at top speed!!"Kuso!!"Quickly wiping his eyes on the back of a gloved hand, he adopted a fighting stance with his power level rising, as did the intensity of his steel blue aura.It was getting closer by the second - Vegeta tensed for the coming battle.

"Hiya Vegeta!"Goku chirped as he flew through the open balcony door, waving.Mentally slapping his forehead, Vegeta automatically lowered his ki since this total idiot posed no threat to him."I felt your ki flare way up there for a sec, Vegeta-san," said Goku while gesturing with his hand above his head to show how high his ki had been."So I came over to check things out."It was then that the thick headed Saiyajin realized that the whole time he had been talking mindlessly, Vegeta's eyes had slowly gone an iridescent red; his pupils disappearing a sea of blood in his eyes.One blood tinged tear rolled down his face, leaving a trail of red behind it, all the while his face remained as if carved from stone.

"Bulma was taken," said the Saiyajin prince in a voice so totally devoid of emotion, that Goku cringed."We must find her.At all costs."Vegeta suddenly gripped Goku's gi and lifted him off the ground a few inches.The surprised Saiyajin just looked in Vegeta's red eyes blankly as Vegeta pulled him in close, almost until their noses touched.Goku could almost see the flames of Hell burning in his eyes."You might not respect me as Prince, but if anything happens to Bulma, I swear to Kami I will KILL the mother fucker who dares to lay a hand on her." he intoned in that emotionless voice."You may love her, Kakarotto, but I love her more.You know as well as I do that if she dies, this planet goes with her."Dropping Goku on the floor unceremoniously, he turned and started towards the balcony, throwing over his shoulder,"Now Kakarotto, use that power sense ability you possess to find my MATE!!!"

"B-But, Vegeta..."

"NOW!!!!" he screamed venomously.

"Fine, fine, Mr. Impatient…" Goku sighed.Vegeta turned at the comment and Goku once again flinched under that gaze, then set his face as he started searching."Let me see here...." he said as his power reached out to find Bulma.But nothing was registering, so he tried it a couple more times, but still there was nothing.Vegeta could tell by the look on Goku's face he couldn't find her.Goku sheepishly nodded his head no and shrugged his shoulders."Don't worry, Vegeta-sama," he said, using a respective title, trying to sound optimistic."I'll keep looking for her.She is still alive, I know it.If I sense anything, you'll be the first to know."Goku slowly backed out the door and took off for home, for Chichi, taking one back glace at the Saiyajin prince in his darkened room, alone.

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Bulma's one eye slowly fluttered open to see that Vegeta was not next to her.Heck, she wasn't even in her own home!She "eeped" as she quickly sat up from the cold concrete floor and saw herself in the last place she thought she would be in - a cage.She raised her hand and touched her right eye tenderly, and found it to be so puffy, that it was impossible to open it.Cold metal bars blocked her way to freedom.She looked about her.Since she wasn't wearing anything the day "they" took her from her mate, she found herself dressed in a raggedy green tank top and a pair of old sweatpants.The whole room was dark; pray for one window letting in the sunshine on the opposite side of the building she was in.To her left and right, there were others like her; she could barely make out people in the same situation she was in.They were all in cages.Some were sleeping, some were sitting, and some were hanging onto the metals bars screaming their brains out to be let out of captivity.A strand of aqua hair was in her face, so she swept it back, only to find that her waist length of blue silk had been crudely lopped off above her shoulders, leaving only 2 or 3 inches of free hair hanging down.She was terrified, her blue eyes wild with fright as she realized there was no way out of here, and she hugged herself in an attempt to calm herself down.

"It's no use gettin' all worked up about something you can't control, dear, so just calm down," came a calm and low voice to Bulma's right.

"Who-who's there?" she asked in a meek voice.

"Another guinea pig, just like you."

"Guinea pig?What do you mean??" she whispered as she crawled as close to the person as the bars would allow.

"You're property of Dr. Gero now.And he'll use you as he pleases."

"Dr. Gero?I know of him.But he's a respected scientist!"

"Hmph!When you see some of his past experiments, you'll see how "respective" he is.Why, I've see-"

"Well, well, well.Aren't we just the little social butterfly?" crooned a cold voice, cutting off the man.At the flick of a wrist, lights blazed to life on the ceiling, and everybody shielded their eyes since they have all been in darkness since they came here.That is, everyone except the one who put them on in the first place.Bulma gasped at seeing the blond blue-eyed woman who had captured her last night, and she scooted back as far as she could go to get away from the person.She only had a few memories of that night; one of that horrible woman was burned into her mind's eye.

"Who is she?" she whispered to the man to her right.

"Not she.It.It's one of Dr. Gero's androids."Bulma's eyes widen even more in horror as the android sauntered its way to Bulma's cage, keeping its emotionless eyes glued on Bulma.On her way there, she took out a key chain dangling with many keys from the pocket of its tight jeans.Bulma curled into a ball and squished herself into the corner as far as she could go.The android stopped at the gate of the cage with now a look of sadistic pleasure on her face.

"You're experiment has been very successful, Miss Briefs," the android said in a toneless voice.*Experiment?* she thought.*How long have I been out for?*But Bulma didn't have time to ponder the thought as the woman swiped the key by a digital reader, opening the door and stepping inside.

"Dr. Gero wants to see his finished product in person, preferably conscious this time."With that said, the android grabbed Bulma's arm and threw her over her shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes, and walked of her cage.Bulma struggled, but it was to no avail - the android may be female, but it had as much strength as Vegeta, if not more.Sensing it was no use, she stopped her struggling, as was taken off to see Dr. Gero.

"What a shame...." said the man in the cage next to Bulma's, while shaking head his head slowly.

Taa daa! Chapter 2 for your oogling pleasure ^_^ Comments, pleeeeeeeeeeze!!

~V-chan


	3. Release

Chapter 2: Captivity

Chapter 3: The Release

She couldn't see much from her point of view, mainly only the female (?) android's butt and the floor as she walked them to their destination, since Bulma had been slung over her shoulder like an old rag doll.The floor was carpeted in a dark red color, and it was very old from the looks of it - rips were everywhere revealing the dark wood underneath.*Looks like blood,* she absently thought to herself.The android wasn't enjoying herself either.The sweatpants did nothing to hide Bulma's underwear - which happened to be a robins egg blue with chibi Vegetas - because they seemed to be a few sizes too big for her.The pants were practically half way down her butt by now.Sighing out of annoyance, 18 continued down the dreary hallway to the lab.*It was always so much easier when she was unconscious.*Hmph!*And she doesn't even remember a thing....* (And don't interpret this as anything else please! ^_^() )An evil smile played on her lips.

She came to stop in front of a heavy wooden door.The only identification was a small metal bar nailed at eye level with "The Genius" engraved on it.She sighed as she knocked lightly on the door.

"You may enter, 18." answered a gravelly voice as she proceeded to turn the bronze knob and stride in.With herself rather awkwardly slung over 18's shoulders with her pants down, a blush reached Bulma's cheeks (on her face, hentai) as 18 suddenly leaned over and Bulma, with an 'eep', fell to the hard tiled floor.

"OUCH!!! BAKA!!! That hurt!" she screamed at the emotionless face of the android.She stood up and, with dignity, quickly pulled up her pants.Taking control of the situation, Bulma put her hands on her hips and looked around the room as if everything was normal.Her eyes widened slightly as she gazed upon the high technology this room contained.10 computers lined the walls with graphs and data on their pixiled faces.But most impressive were the animals that were there, in cages, just like the one she had been in.Tigers paced the floor of their prison, with their lips pulled back in a silent snarl, their eyes never leaving her.Bears in their shaggy brown coats rested, using the metal bars as a pillow.One yawned, showing off its impressive display of sharp canines.Panthers, wolves, and cheetahs were also in the room, attending to their own agendas.

But while Bulma was looking over the animals, she herself was also being inspected.Although he had seen her many times before with and without clothes, but never when she was awake.She was stunning.Her cheeks were still slightly flushed, her sloppily cut hair was still as beautiful as it was before, but it was always her eyes that caught his.Those deep azure eyes that if one looked close enough, you could see her soul.He could drink in her eyes for all eternity if he was permitted to.*Vegeta has good taste in women...* he bitterly thought to himself.Waking up from his fantasy, he focused on his task ahead.

"So.Bulma Briefs, how was your nap?" he said with slight sarcasm.She whirled around and placed her gaze upon the one who has held her captive for Kami knows how long.Anger slowly seeped into her features as she looked at her captor.*There isn't much to look at,* she said to herself.*He's all skin and bones.Hard to believe he has a brain bigger than my own.* she admitted to herself.His white hair only covered half his head; the rest was as bald as that monk, Krillen.Bald as a cue ball.His brown eyes were like that as his invention standing next to her - emotionless.

"Ok.I only want to know three things.One, who the HFIL do you think you people (used very generally considering what was sitting next to her) are capturing me?Two, what the FUCK have you done to me?And three, well.... um.... eh.... numbers one and two are enough! (Add in BIG anime sweat drop here)"

"Well, since you've asked so nicely, I'll see if I can answer your questions."Bulma crossed her arms, waiting for the response."As you probably already know, I'm Dr. Gero.I specialize in biotechnology.And you have been essential to my research, Miss Briefs."Raising a single blue eyebrow, she let the Aged One continue."But to get back to your questions, we have been, eh, _monitoring you for some time to see if you were the one chosen for my most impressive project to date.After confirming that, we waited for a good chance to whisk you to my humble home, although your husband (I presume?) put up quite a fight."An evil smirk grew across his wizened face."17 had a bit of trouble holding on to him."With a wave of his hand towards the shadows, 17 stepped out of the dark with his arms crossed in an annoyed way.He didn't like to be remembered that he couldn't hold onto the Saiyajin prince._

Bulma's eyes widened as the previously unseen form revealed himself from the shadows.It made her wonder how many more were hiding in the many shadows of the room.

"You still haven't answered my question, you old geezer.What the fuck did you do to me?"Dr. Gero put his hand under his chin to try to explain what he had done.

"You yourself hate to be weak, do you not?You have said it many times."

"Nani?"

"Have you not?Being married to a Saiyajin, a prince at that, one of the most powerful beings in the universe?Humans are a very fragile race, ne?He must be gentle with you in order not to harm you.But then again, females are always weaker than men."

"NANI?!?!" she squealed, a slight flush beginning to reappear on her cheeks, either from embarrassment or anger (probably the latter). 

"Well, what if you were given strength to match that fiery intellect of yours?"

"What... do you mean?" she asked, almost hesitantly.

"To put it bluntly, I used my biotechnology to fuse panther DNA with your own, along with some…oh… _extra_ parts I added in.We chose you because you are one of the smartest, and, can I say, the most beautiful woman on Chikyuu.I wanted to see how a hybrid would act in the real world.And as far as I can see, it turned out pretty well."Bulma was fuming by the end of this statement, her eyes reflecting the growing hatred she felt for this old geezer who had the power to ruin her life.There was even a bare hint of blue ki surrounding the practically foaming at the mouth woman as her hate grew

"How DARE you do this to me!You sick perverted motherfucker!You and your blonde tin can are SO fucking dead!!" she shrieked.Even 18 had to put a hand to her ear to keep from going deaf."When Vegeta and Goku get here, they'll--"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," he said quickly, cutting her off.Bulma's rage immediately cooled off at this.Her eyes widened slightly, wondering what he could mean." You see, we are within the protective chamber of mine.Thanks to my biotechnology, no ki can be felt through these walls.So now, we have no more use of you here.We shall give you a drug I have prototyped that will completely erase your memory between a time that I so choose. We shall release you to return to your "normal" life to see how you act in the outside world.Oh, but don't worry.We'll be monitoring you the whole time."And so, with the end of his speech, he nodded his head at 18.At the signal, 18 punched the back of Bulma's head, knocking her unconscious.Before she slipped onto the wings of darkness, she thought, *Oh, Kami.... what am I?"

Chapter 3!! Comments are always appreciated ^_^


	4. Lost and Found

Chapter 2: Captivity

Chapter 4:Lost & Found

Bulma's limp body lay on the tiled floor next to 18.Her blue eyes were covered by the blue hair that had fallen over her face.The android looked at the unconscious woman, then glanced up with the emotionless eyes she possessed at the weazened doctor, asking what to do next without speaking.Thick velvet blood oozed from a cut on the back of Bulma's head.It seemed that 18 had hit her a little too hard, ignoring the fact she was a mere human with a low tolerance for pain.The blood matted and dried; blue hair with scarlet streaks.Just to make sure Bulma was still alive, 18 bent over and put her index and her middle finger to the side of Bulma's neck-18's blonde hair falling from behind her ears to gently swipe past her porcelain cheeks.She searched, until she felt the erratic,faint pumping of blood through Bulma's neck.*She's a tough one to kill,* she thought to herself as she stood up, and hand on her hip.Using her other free hand, she brushed the blond locks from her face and put them behind her ear and looked at Dr. Gero.

"What do we do with her now?" she asked him in the normal cold voice of hers. Her brother came from where he was standing in the shadows to stand beside his sister with his arms crossed over his broad chest.His black hair fell over his shoulder, and in one smooth movement, he pulled it back with a twist of his head to the side.Both waited in a machine-like stance, not even moving to balance themselves, awaiting for an answer from their well hated master.

"Well, like I told Miss Briefs there," he nodded to the motionless form on the floor."We have no more use for her here.She has served her purpose here in our humble home, and it is time to release her.We will be monitoring her at all times.No matter what.The transplanted DNA will not be absorbed for a few days, so everything will be normal for about a week.Although there is one problem.I don't know what will trigger her to transform.That is the one thing that I couldn't find out.It could be any factor - a surge in hormones, a decrease in light, fear..... hell, taking a piss could trigger it for all I know!So that is why we must keep tabs on her from time to time.Are the video cameras installed in the Briefs house, 17?"The male android shook his head yes.

"Although it was a bit of a struggle.There always seemed to be somebody home.I managed to get them in while Vegeta was training in the gravity room and Bulma was out shopping."

"Excellent.Now all we do now is let her go home.18!"The dozing android jumped at the sound of her name.

"Yes?"

"I want you to rough up Miss Briefs a little."

"Nani? What for?"

"Well, we can't have her look like she has been in a nice environment.To keep the Saiyajins off my case, we can make her look like she was abducted by a street gang or a renegade alien or some crap.Leave her in an alley or a dumpster in Satan City.But you must leave there quickly.The one called Goku is extremely perceptive in detecting ki and presence, so drop her off and leave.Got it?"

"Yes, Dr. Gero." she replied.She then hoisted the motionless Bulma onto her shoulder and walked out of the room with her.

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18 brought Bulma just inside the enterence to the laboratory and set her down on the floor none too gently.Bulma's still body slid slowly down the wall, her mouth open slightly, breathing deeply in and out.*This is going to be fun!*18 thought to herself as she cracked her artificial knuckles.Extending her retractable nails a bit, she proceeded to rip up Bulma's clothes (what was left of them, that is).She cut the grimy sweatpants below the knee, cutting a bit too deep, causing a slash to open up and bleed.She tore one of the straps of her tank top, letting the shirt hang loosely over one full breast.After making a few more deep cuts in Bulma's flesh, she retracted her nails to their regular size, and made a few quick swipes over Bulma's already torn and broken body, making scratches all over to simulate a beating.She slapped her a few times across the face, causing the skin to redden, as if blushing.When she was finished,she stood up from her croutching position to admire her handiwork.Bulma's once smooth and untouched face was now covered in scratches, some blood running down her cheeks, and some more from a cut on her scalp.Her slapping Bulma's face made the black eyes she still had more prominant.Her arms were tattered and bleeding, her once manicured nails chipped and broken.The sweatpants were barely holding their own.Bulma's shoeless and sockless feet were also cut, as if she had walked through a pit of broken glass.But it was her hair that had seen the worst of it all.Now dirty and oily and clumped together with blood, the blue curls were no longer the best part of her.Grinning at the extent and satisfaction of her work, 18 once again hoisted Bulma's practically life less body onto a shoulder and proceeded out the door, headed for Satan City, 200 miles away.

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After about thirty minutes of flying with a 120 pound lump on her shoulder, 18 decended into Satan City, making her way to the most notorious section of town, where all the gangs congrigated.This part was owned by one the most vicious of all the gangs - the Golden Fangs.18 didn't see why they were so feared by everyone - she could dispose of them in less than 5 minutes.Setting her feet down on the wet pavement, she looked around for a good place to hide the experiment of a lifetime, as Dr. Gero put it.She picked a corner in a deserted dead end alley.

"Ewwwwww, blech...."Her nose was bombarded with the smell of human urine and vomit.Squeezing her eyes shut, she dumped the body and took off quickly, trying to rid herself of the most disgusting smell in the world.Her eyes would have been watering if she had tearducts.She took off for Dr. Gero's as fast as she could.

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Chichi was drying the dishes that once held the food that her husband was scarfing down at a rate that could blow any record away.But Chichi was used to it, and hummed a light tune that she had heard on the radio.All of a sudden, Goku's head jerked up from the piles of food surrounding him. With a chicken leg still sticking out of his mouth, his eyes glazed over as he scanned to make sure it was right.Noticing the odd silence, Chichi turned around to find her husband missing.Taking a moment, she said, 

"Not again..."

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Vegeta was busy training in the gravity room, as usual, trying to block out thoughts of Bulma.A robot appeared in front of him, and he quickly disintegrated it with a small blast of ki.Sweat was pouring down his face and chest, making his muscle shirt stick to every detail of his molded chest (::sigh.....:: ^^).

"VEGETA!!!!" cried a familiar voice, slightly muffled from the steel walls.

"Huh?Kakarroto?"Turning off the gravitron, he melted the door away with a quick blast, running out into the back yard as soon as Goku had landed and ran up to him.

"C'mon!She's here!"Goku cried at Vegeta, pulling at the stunned prince's arm.

"Nani?Who's here?Who are you-" Vegeta's eyes widened slightly when he knew who Goku was talking about.Ripping his arm away from the third class warrior, his eyes took on the most determined look Goku had ever seen.

"Well?Let's go get her!" he said, more than slightly annoyed.

"Right!"Grabbing Vegeta's arm once again, he put his two fingers to his forehead and transported him & the Saiyajin prince to Satan City.

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"Oof!P U!!!"Goku said, holding his nose closed while waving his arm.Quickly getting together after receiving one of the dirtiest looks he's ever gotten from the small man next to him, he focused on Bulma's ki.She was near.He proceeded to walk down a deserted alley with the prince behind him.

"She's near here, somewhere." he said, pointing down the darkened alleyway.A group of thugs suddenly appeared out of the shadow of the apartment complex next to the alley.They all pulled out their knives, thinking these two weirdo looking guys would be easy to take down.

"Hehe, what have we here?" taunted the leader of the group.Vegeta quickly glanced at them, very annoyed, paid them no mind, and continued to walk."Looks like a coupla sissy men!Hey, what's with that hair?Looks like a-" the dirty man was cut off by a ki blast from Vegeta.It only took him one blast to send them to the NEXT DIMENSION!! (enter loud music here ^^ next dimension... what a laugh!)Returning his attention to the problem at hand, he turned around to face the stunned Saiyajin.

"You better not be fucking with me , Kakarroto,"Vegeta said as he brushed past Goku to walk into the alley.

"Hmmmm....... check out-" but he stopped as the sounds of grunting voices could be heard slightly echoing against the building's walls.Vegeta looked at Goku quickly, eyes slightly wide, and took of into the darkness of the alley, Goku running on his heels.Vegeta's Saiyajin sight could pierce the dark.And what he saw turned his blood into sheer ice.There, in the corner, 5 men were huddled around a still body, and on the one hand sticking out was a simple sliver ring on the pointer finger.He had given her that ring but a few days ago.She had hated to be a conformist, so she wore the ring on her first finger.Stunned into paralysis, he saw 2 men actually bent over her prone body, pushing and grunting into HIS mate.The other three men were quickly stripping from the waist down, in anticipation.Goku looked at Vegeta worriedly, and started to back away as his eyes drained of all color.A flashing whiteness was the only sign of his rage – his rage was so great, it was beyond rage.Anger, fury, wrath - they could not describe the depth of this familiar, yet new emotion.All he had to do was raise his finger to point at the men, and they instantaneously vanished.Every particle of their being was killed in a single instant, their souls didn't even have time to escape their earthly prison, and the souls as well vanished.With that whiteness still in his eyes, Vegeta walked over to his mate, lifted her head to his, and wept.

You like? You hate? Please tell me! Feel free to email me at mmeyersridge@cs.com!!


	5. Home At Last

Chapter 2: Captivity

Chapter 5:Home At Last

Her body was bruised almost past recognition, her hair was a grungy shade of purple.Her right eye was swollen, her clothes ripped and tattered.

"Vegeta-san…. How is she?" Goku timidly asked, and his eyes widened when he saw her.Vegeta rose in a smooth, almost fluid motion, with Bulma in his arms.He elbowed the Saiyjin behind him hard in the ribs to get his attention.Her head fell back against his muscled arm, her mouth slightly agape, but she still did not move or wake up.Pulling her to his chest, he could feel how weak her ki was, and he had to struggle to keep his anger in check at seeing the state his mate was in.The thought that someone had the fucking guts to do this to his mate and not to him almost overwhelmed him.It took all of his strength to keep his anger low.Any outburst of ki could kill his fragile mate.Turning himself around, as if in slow motion, he nodded to Goku and the third class warrior took his arm and transported himself, Vegeta, and Bulma to Capsule Corp.

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Once his feet touched the ground, Vegeta rushed Bulma to the regen tank in the lab.The lid was open; the monitors were blank and black, waiting to be brought to life.Vegeta shifted Bulma in his arms to place her gently in.He didn't let go of her for a moment, as if losing her touch would shatter him.He searched his mind to remember how Bulma had told him to hook up the wires and hoses to a person.He would have never thought he'd be doing this to his mate.Her life depended on how good his memory was.

::flashback::

"Now, Veggie-chan..." she called in an affectionant voice from the lab.

"Damn it, woman!I told you never to call me that!What do you want now?" he snarled at her.

"I wanted to show you how to work the regen tank." Bulma said, taking his hand and led him to the lab, where the tank lay dormant.

"Why the hell would I care, woman?" he growled at her.

"::sigh:: Just in case.There's no harm in being prepared.Now look at this."Just to make her even more pissed, Vegeta turned his head away from her, seemingly ignoring her.*I love seeing her get pissed....* he grinned to himself.

"Onegai, Vegeta no Ouji, listen to me..." Bulma placed her hand on Vegeta's chin to turn his head towards her.Surprised at her lack of anger, his head turned easily towards her, one eyebrow raised in a questionable manner.Bulma's eyes were even more deep than usual, and they even had a hint of... what was it?.... sorrow?

"I want you to know this, Vegeta.Please, do it for my sake, at least.I want you to know in case something ever happens to me.I don't want to be taken to the hospital.I want to stay near you."His eyebrows angled together and that royal-pain-in-the-ass smirk was once again plastered on his face.He crossed his arms across his broad iron chest and turned all the way around to face his blue eyed mate.

"Don't be silly, woman.I won't let anything or anyone harm you.You are my mate, and I will protect you till the end of time, got that?"Vegeta circled his arms around her waist and gently pulled her to him.Bulma's head rested on Vegeta's shoulder while one of his gloved hands stroked through her silky blue hair, inhaling the scent of her perfume.A single tear fell across her face.Both were content just holding one another in their arms.

*************************

Vegeta placed the plastic mask over his mate's mouth and nose so she could breathe in the swirling waters of the regen tank, and closed the lid.He jogged over to the monitors and flicked the switches to turn them on.Programmed to automatically activate when there was a being inside the tank, the machines started to fill the tank up with the healing liquid.Vegeta leaned over the tank to look at his mate.Her body started to lift up when the liquid filled the tank to the top.Her short hair waved in the current.A tear fell down Vegeta's cheek to land on the cover of the tank.*If I lose her again, I don't think I could handle it*

"Vegeta-sama?Are you ok?"asked the other worried Saiyajin.*Kuso!I forgot he was still here!*Quickly wiping away the wetness on his cheeks, he turned to face Goku.

"Damn it, Kakaroto! I'M FINE!!!" he screamed at the third class warrior.Goku backed away from Vegeta with his hands in front of his face in a defensive position.A nervous grin crept onto his face.

"Ok, ok!Since I'm obviously not needed here, I'll go home.But you know you're always welcome at our house if you need us, Vegeta," he said in caring voice.Vegeta turned around so that his back was to Goku.

"Iie, I will stay here with Bulma."Vegeta whispered under his breath, as if afraid someone else might hear.Only a Saiyajin's perceptive hearing could have caught what Vegeta had said.Goku shook his head in understanding and walked to the door and took off for home.Chichi would be glad to hear that Bulma was back.

************************

Her delicate body floated, almost lifelessly, in the regen tank.It had been over a week that she had been in the tank, and Vegeta was starting to get worried.She had extensive external injuries, but there seemed to be no life threatening injuries internally.She had just malnutrition and a little bit of dehydration, but that was it! *This damn machine is probably broken.Piece of shit! I'll have her father come over to check it out..* he thought.*I can't stand this any longer!*He bowed his head down and took fistfuls of his hair in each hand while his elbows rested on his legs.*All this waiting is driving me mad!*Releasing his head lock, he slowly turned his head to face his mate who lie dormant in the tank.*If only you knew how much you mean to me....*His face softened a little, his black eyes becoming less reflective.He leaned over to place an arm that draped over the tank, as if trying to touch his mate, but the barrier of the tank kept him at bay, not relenting her.He sighed, placing his chin on the plastic cover, and gazed at nothing in peticular.But as acute as his Saiyajin sight was, he nor Goku even saw the silver anklet with a heart charm on it wrapped around her ankle.

*****************

"Fire up the tracking system, 17," Dr. Gero asked in a gravelly voice.The android nodded and flicked a couple of switches, activating the sensor."HAHAHAHA!!! No one will ever think the ankle bracelet I put on Miss Breifs is actually a tracking device!I amaze myself sometimes! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!"laughed the old man at his genius.17 rolled his eyes.

************************

Goku was worried for his fellow Saiyajin.Vegeta hadn't left the side of his mate since they had found her in the recesses of Satan City.His ki just stayed stationary, never moving.He probably hasn't even eaten anything in over a week, Goku thought.And you know how a Saiyajin's appetite can get.His own stomach gurgled in response to the thought of food.Placing a hand on his stomach, Goku walked to the kitchen to see if Chichi was cooking anything yet - and his Saiyajin sense of smell did pick up something.Practically flying down the stairs to the kitchen, he found Chichi cooking a pot of rice for dinner.Goku's eyes widened and a bit of drool rolled out of his mouth to drip off his chin.Hearing her husband pant behind her, she turned around and wiped Goku's mouth with her apron.

"Really, Goku-saa, you're going to eat us out of house and home!" she said.

"But Chichi... I'm hungry!"Goku started bouncing up and down in front of his mate.With a lightning fast movement, she put her finger over Goku's mouth to quiet him for a sec.At the touch of her finger, he stopped bouncing at looked at her questionably. 

"Now, Goku-saa, I want you to do a favor for me."

"But Chichi...." he whined.But Chichi gave him a stare that she always gave him when she was really annoyed, so Goku shut up to hear his wife out.

"I'm really starting to worry about Vegeta-san.He probably hasn't eaten in over a week.Now, when the rice gets done, I want you to take some of it and some of the meat I'm making for dinner and to bring it over to him.Knowing him, he hasn't left her side this whole time."Goku gave his wife one last pleading look.

"But Chichi, can't I do this AFTER dinner?"he pleaded.His stomach gurgled once again to prove his point.Chichi removed her hand from Goku's mouth to pinch the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes (if u guys watch Ally Mcbeal, this would be known as "taking a moment").

"NO.To make sure this gets done, I want you to deliver the food BEFORE dinner.Now, go."She placed the wrapped food into Goku's hands.The drool started to roll down again at the sight of food.

"And ALL that food better get to Vegeta-san, got it?"Goku looked up once more at his wife with a pleading look.Feed up with this, Chichi practically kicked her husband out the door.He landed on his butt hard, and got up and rubbed it, wincing.Sighing to himself, he took off for Capsule Corp.

********************

A sensation zipped through her mind, causing her eyes to open.*Where am I?Oh, Kami, please don't let me be back there!*Her eyes widened in fear as she whipped her head around to see where she was.She was enclosed, and all she knew was that she wanted to get out.She started pounding on the lid, frantically trying to get out.But the way she had designed the tank was that it could not break without a tremendous ki ball.Still, she punched and kicked the lid trying to free herself.

*********************

Feeling guilty for leaving her, he just couldn't deny his stomach pangs.Vegeta opened the refrigerator door and began to look inside just as his Saiyjin hearing picked up a faint sound.*What was it?*It sounded like someone punching the wall.Recognizing the sound, his eyes went wide and he ran to the lab room.

"BULMA!!!!"

He rushed into the lab room, seeing the regen tank.The being inside was punching, kicking, scrapeing, trying to get out.She was moving so much that the liquid inside blurred his vision of her. Coming to his senses, he quickly strode over to the tank and unhitched the lid, the bluish fluid bursting out of the tank, wetting the floor.Before he could think, Bulma leapt out of the tank before Vegeta had a chance to grab her.She ran, not knowing where she was going, just glad to have escaped from the tank, her instincts screaming at her to get away.She ran to a room and huddled into a corner, trying to make herself as small as possible.Her breath came in uneven rasps, desperately trying to suck in the air in the amount she needed.She was shivering, her clothes damp from the fluid of the regen tank.But it didn't take long for Vegeta to find her.*Damn!What happened back there? Where is she?*He growled as he focused on her ki, sensing it in a unoccupied guest room two floors up.He sprinted up the stairs, and proceeded to stride into the room.The room was darkened, the shades were closed, and he could barely see her shivering in the corner.He slowly walked over to her, afraid she might try to run away again.She tried to curl even smaller in the corner, her eyes squeezed tightly shut, a few tears streaming down her face.Vegeta looked at her for a minute, then reached out his hand to brush away the tears.She pulled back slightly at his touch.She forced her eyes open, and gazed upon her mate.Her eyes began to well up again in recognition, and flopped into his arms, her eyes forcing as much water out as they could, not caring how weak she must have appeared.Vegeta folded his arms around his delicate mate, feeling her racking sobs against him.He squeezed tighter in response, grinning to himself, just glad to have her back in his arms.

Like? Hate? Email me @ mmeyersridge@cs.com!!


	6. Back to Semi-Normalness

Chapter 2: Captivity

Chapter 6: Back to Semi-Normalness

"Vegeta-san?Vegeta?Helllllooooooooo!!!Any one home?" called the Saiyajin.He went to the kitchen and put the warm food on the table.The drool once again returned, but he quickly wiped it off with his wrist and proceeded to walk around Capsule Corp."I know!"He raised his finger in the air.You could almost see a lightbulb above his head suddenly flick on."I'll check the lab!"Goku, unfamiliar with the layouts of Capsule Corp's inner workings, walked around for about a half an hour before he found it.Putting a smile on his face and a greeting ready, he was disappointed as he found the lab to be empty.*That's odd...* he thought.The floor was all wet, and the tank was empty.Getting a bit frustrated at his attempts to find his "friend" (quote on quote), he tried to focus on Vegeta's ki.He yipped for joy as he sensed him upstairs as he bounded up the stairs to the room.As he made the last stair and peered into the hallway, he saw Vegeta with his back to Goku.Vegeta silently closed the door he had come out of and started to walk away.

"HEY VEGETA!!!" Goku yelled.Vegeta cringed at the annoying voice coming from behind him.

"SHUT UP!!!!" he whispered viciously, baring his teeth at the Saiyajin."Bulma's sleeping!!"

"Huh??" asked the puzzled Goku with one eyebrow raised.Realizing he wouldn't be able to get the stupid one out of his hair until he showed him Bulma, Vegeta sighed and growled at the same time and slowly opened the door.The room was still dark except for the small bedside lamp that Vegeta had turned on before.Goku quickly rushed to his friend's side and kneeled down on the floor beside the bed.The scratches on her still hadn't completely healed since Bulma came out a little prematurely from the tank. Vegeta crossed his arms in an annoyed way and watched Goku from the doorway.Goku felt a pang of guilt at seeing Bulma like this, realizing that the only thing he had been thinking about for the past week was..... food, of course.Bulma's breathing was slow, but deep, finally sleeping peacefully, her face towards Goku and one hand under her pillow.The cotton sheets were folded around her body.Goku brushed one of her aqua curls away from her face tenderly, and in touching her directly, he could telepathically feel her pain.

"God dammit, Kakarotto!Get away from her!She needs her rest!" snarled Vegeta, not liking the fact that Goku was touching his mate.Goku backed away from the sleeping form, keeping his eyes on her before exiting the room.Vegeta followed him, glancing back at his mate before closing the door.

A few minutes later.....

Vegeta was wolfing down the food that Goku had brought him.His stomach was barely appeased at the meager amount of food he was given, and he got up to make himself something more from the fridge.Goku was on the kitchen counter, swinging his legs back and forth.

"Ya know, Vegeta, Chichi would be really glad to see her friend again..." he hinted at the prince.Vegeta glared at him with all his might before ducking back into the fridge.

"NO!Bulma is not having that annoying loudmouth mate of yours visit her!It'll make her condition worse!"

"But, Vegeeeeeeeta....." whined Goku.

"NO!!!" he bellowed, making the house shake a little.Surprised from Vegeta's out burst, Goku fell off the counter and quickly flew out the window, wanting to put as much space between him and the prince.Vegeta had a smug look on his face at being successful at driving the lowly warrior away.His eyes went a little wider as he realized that he could have woken Bulma up.Scarfing down the last of the sandwiches, he walked to Bulma's room and carefully opened the door.Vegeta stepped inside and sat on the edge of the bed as he glanced at the clock.3:00 am.He had no idea it was that late!He lifted his arms and removed his "Badman" shirt that he was wearing, revealing that steel chest of his (^^()).Vegeta lifted up the sheets and slid under.He propped his head up on his arm and looked over at his mate.Her delicate features were accented by the lamp on the table next to her; her pouting lips, her porcelain skin, her slightly flushed cheeks.Vegeta slowly wrapped an arm around her, being very gentle with her, considering her injuries.He slowly pulled her to him, her body facing his, and slowly pulled her face to his and kissed her lightly on her lips.To his surprise, she kissed back hungrily, when he had thought she was still asleep.He pulled away in surprise as her eyes fluttered open, revealing her ice blue eyes.A sly smile crept along her delicate features as she lightly bit his bottom lip.She slid out from the covers and walked to the sliding glass doors leading to her balcony.Glacing back to Vegeta, who was still in bed, she walked out the door, wearing only an oversized t-shirt.Shaking his head and replacing the surprised look with his usual smirk, he followed his mate outside.She was leaning on the railing and staring up at the sky when he reached her.They stood next to each other, not talking, for a few minutes, comfortable in each other's presence.Bulma then leaned to her right and laid her head upon her mate's shoulder and closed her eyes, letting out a little sigh.Vegeta gazed at the blue haired human on his shoulder, millions of questions zoomed through his mind.

"Bulma," he asked, his voice deep and rumbling with emotion.

"Mmmm?" she answered.

"Can you remember anything?"His question did not directly ask, but she understood what he wanted to know.Bulma shook her head.

"I really don't remember.I don't remember where I was or who I was with, but I do remember one thing,"Vegeta turned to Bulma, causing Bulma to lift her head from his shoulder, and was listening intently to her."I remember.... wanting you to take me home,"her soft eyes brimming with tears."The feeling was so strong! I just wanted to go home!I wanted you to take me home!"She turned around, too ashamed and embarassed to face Vegeta, and tried to wipe away the tears with her sleeve, holding herself.

"You are home," he purred, pulling her to him and lifting her head to stare into her deep blue eyes."And you have me."Both closed their eyes and kissed with the pent up passion that they had withheld in each other's absence.Vegeta wrapped his arms around Bulma's waist, but instead of doing the same around his neck, she put her hands on the small of his back where his tail used to be.Finding the spot by memorization, she lightly pressed it, causing Vegeta to jerk a little and he let out a tiny moan against her mouth, not being able to keep it in.From the small of his back, her hands wandered farther down into the back of his boxers, feeling his warm skin against her soft hands.His eyes shot open, surprised at this sudden move, but he quickly replaced his expression with his usual smirk.He started to grind their hips together, Bulma's actions seeming to take affect of his manhood, hardening in his thin boxers.His hormones taking charge of him now, Vegeta pulled her tighter to him in their embrace.Bulma suddenly let out a shreik of pain, causing her to break the kiss and back up.Vegeta let go of her immediately.He slowly turned her around and lifted her t-shirt to examine her back.*So that's why..*What he found were some of the more deep scratches on her back which had failed to heal in the regen tank.Something puzzled him though.It took him awhile to figure what it was.The wounds – they almost looked like they had been stitched before.He lightly brushed them, causing Bulma to quiver again.

"You got anymore I should know about?" he asked.Bulma shook her head yes, and gathered her now longer hair to the side."I noticed it last night.All I felt was a bump… is there anything there?" she asked.Vegeta came closer and rubbed his finger lightly against the bump on the back of her neck.

"It looks like nothing more than a simple insect bite." Vegeta replied.He did not say it, but he had known my technologies when he had been in the service of Freeza.What seemed like a simple mosquito bite could be anything.Pushing the thoughts away, he bent down and nibbled lightly on her neck, receiving a slight tremble from Bulma.

"Well then, I guess I'll just have to be more gentle with you."Abruptly, he whisked her off her feet and carried her back to the bed.Her face was buried in his chest, inhaling the sweet smell of his skin.He gently placed her on the bed and stepped back to gaze at his mate.Her legs were curled under her, her hand was twisting in her hair.

Vegeta sat down next to her and stared into her unfathomable blue eyes."Whoever did this to you, Bulma, might have done anything to you."In his mind's eye he replayed the scene in the alley."I will not do anything you do not wish me to." He stared intently at her, waiting her answer.To his surprise, Bulma broke out into a smile like an angel's.

"Vegeta," she said softly."It does not matter what anyone else has done to me."She raised her hand and stroked his cheek lovingly."I will always want you."With that, she moved in and kissed his softly; growing with fervor.Their tongues were exploring each other's mouths, while their hands were doing the same to their bodies.Vegeta gently pressed her down into the bed, being even more gentle than he had ever been with her before.Her hands once again found the small of his back and pressed gently in, receiving not really a growl, but more like a purr deep within his throat which vibrated against her own.Vegeta's hands found their way under her arched back, bringing her closer to him, releasing just a quiet whimper from her.

"Gomen..." he whispered in her ear.His mouth traveled down her neck to the base of her shoulder.After being in the regen tank, it had also healed his mark on her.Using his sharp Saiyajin teeth, he bit her and broke the skin.Bulma was already drowning in pleasure, so she never felt the prick on her neck.Besides, she was used to Vegeta biting her.She moaned in pleasure, which excited Vegeta even more, who was already fighting himself to take it slow with Bulma.His blood was screaming at him to hurry up and take her already, but the love he shared with her prevented him from causing her more pain than pleasure.His mouth continued to travel down her slim body, kissing every curve, every inch of her skin.He stopped at her navel, looking up at her face between her breasts.Her breath was coming quicker, her breasts moving up and down.She pushed herself against his face, trying to urge him on.Smirking, he granted her wish by flicking his tongue in her belly button. Bulma giggled a little, not being able to hold it in.She was really ticklish down there.With an evil grin, Vegeta's fingers grazed over her stomach, tickling her, receiving a burst of laughter in response, making her whole body shake.Through her laughter, Bulma tried to glare at Vegeta to stop playing with her, but she just couldn't do it.It came out more like a lopsided grin, and Vegeta couldn't help but chuckle a little.He continued to tickle her, her sides starting to hurt a little and a few tears fell from her eyes.In an attempt to twist away from his teasing fingers, she tried to move over, but Vegeta's Saiyajin reflexes caught her hips in his hands before she could turn away.He once again crept up on her, crawling on all fours over her body.Her perfect face was a little flushed now from the laughing, and Vegeta gave her a Saiyajin smirk.

"Woman, only humans have a weakness like tickling." he teased her.

"Is that so, Mr. Pain in the Ass?Well, what about this?"Her hand moved along his body and pressed his tail spot like a pleasure button.If Vegeta still had his tail, it would have jolted straight up and fluffed out to its full extent.A deep moan escaped his mouth before he glared down at the fragile creature beneath him.Bulma gave him an angelic smile.

"Just for that..." Vegeta pulled her head to his and kissed her once again.Her hand came up from where it had been clutching the covers to begin twisting in his raven flame hair.Reaching up from its original place by her side, Vegeta's hand interlaced her unoccupied one.Before she knew it, Vegeta gave a push of his hips and had entered her, filling the gap within her.Bulma was still kissing Vegeta, but she took a sharp intake of air of surprise.They started thrusting together, each in rhythm together, one bucking against the other.Vegeta's thrusts gradually got deeper and faster.Her inner walls squeezed him inside her, making it difficult for him to remain in control.As weak as she was, Vegeta was mildly surprised to feel how strong her muscles were.Bulma was in pure heaven, feeling his swollen appendage inside her, filling her void that had remained empty for too long.When her last orgasm crashed down on her, with a final burst, Bulma screamed in pleasure. She tightened her legs around his hips and clamped her inner muscles tight, squeezing Vegeta's manhood inside her.Vegeta released her from the kiss and lifted his head and howled like a wolf would at the moon as he came.Both were panting hard and were slick with sweat.Vegeta's eyes were clamped shut, trying to calm his breathing down.Once his breathing settled down, he opened his onyx eyes to stare into Bulma's azure ones.Sweat had formed on her brow and upper lip, so he took his soft hand and brushed it away affectionately.

"Weakling," he whispered, still a little out of breath before gently kissing her again.Vegeta wrapped his arms around Bulma's waist and flipped both of them so that Bulma was now on top."It'll be more comfortable like this." he said simply.With his arms still wrapped possessively around her, Vegeta yawned and shut his eyes and pulled her closer to him, snuggling, almost.A loving smile was placed on her face at watching her mate fall asleep in her arms.Resting her chin on his chest, she sighed a little and closed her eyes.Little did she know that Vegeta had shown his love for her in another way- by giving her their first child together.


	7. Deja Vu

Chapter 2: Captivity

Chapter 7:Deja Vu

The sun's bright rays entered their room like golden angel wings.The light came to rest on the queen sized bed across from the glass sliding doors.The sheets were twisted around the two bodies, and they were still a little damp from the night's endeavors.The two sleeping figures were curled around each other, holding each other in a sleepy embrace.The one with hair like black fire even had a moist spot on his pillow where some drool had come to seep into the pillowcase (never thought it would be Vegboy drooling, huh? ^.~).The other one with hair like blue silk laid facing the other, barely seen from under the cover of her lover's muscled arms.Her eyes squeezed shut a little before slowly sliding open, the deep pools of azure blinking to clear the fog from her slumber.They glanced over at the drooling figure in front of her, he was lightly snoring, his eyebrows slightly furrowed even in his sleep, and even grunting a little deep within his Saiyajin throat.She barely suppressed a grin, and , being the future thinker she is, she slowly reached over to her night table, being careful not to move too much, and grabbed the small camera.Laughing to herself, she angled the camera to fit in the whole picture - drool and everything.She pressed the camera's button, capturing the scene on film.The camera clicked and whirred, and she quickly slid the camera under the pillow and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep.His Saiyajin eyes shot open at the mechanical sound, looking around the room for intruders, and came to rest upon his "sleeping" mate.A grin grew across his face, for he knew she wasn't really asleep.His hand crept under the covers while his eyes never moved from her face, seemingly waiting for a reaction.When he realized with some frustration that his hand wouldn't reach where he wanted it to go, his whole body (even his hair!) slipped under the covers.Bulma's eyes creeped open a little, wondering the heck he was doing down there; she was trying to stay still.Vegeta's hand slowly slid to their destination as a Saiyajin smirk played across his face.His fingers touched the bottom of her feet, which received a short laugh from the one whose feet were being tickled.She pulled her feet under her body trying to get away from the tickling fingers.She gave another laugh and tried to kick Vegeta who was still under the covers, but he caught her foot and tickled it again.Bulma collapsed into her pillow laughing uncontrollably, being careful of the still hidden camera.When her mate wouldn't stop it, she decided to take it into her own hands.She ripped the covers off the bed revealing her mate who had put an innocent look on his face, as if he hadn't been doing anything.

"You ain't fooling me, mister!" she squealed at him as she leapt at him.Anticipating the move, he allowed her to jump on top of him as they both rolled on the bed before falling off the side of it with a plop.They wrestled together for a couple of minutes, Vegeta being gentle with his mate, and Bulma was laughing her head off, not willing to let her mate get the better of her, she rolled on top of him, straddling his waist and pinning his hands above his head.His mouth was curved in an amused smirk, for although he could flip her over if he wanted to, he allowed her the dominant position for once.Bulma was still laughing and was cheering herself on.

"Looks like I beat the Prince of Saiyajins!My prince..." she cooed to him, rubbing her nose against his, teasing him.

"Woman, do you really think you can beat me?" he looked up at her (for a change) questionably with one eyebrow raised.

"Well, maybe not beat you, but I've tamed the proudest, most arrogant, sexiest pain in the ass in the entire universe.And you're all mine."A devilish look crept into Bulma's eyes as she looked over her mate's perfect body, from his unruly Saiyajin hair, to his tan six pack, to his... (well, I'll let ure imagination go with it ^.^).She quickly glanced up at the alarm clock on her night stand just to see what time it was.10:00.She looked back down at her mate, when her eyes opened wide.Her heart started beating at a faster pace.Vegeta's eyes widened as well, but in shock at what he thought he had seen.

"**OH _CRAP!! I HAVE A BOARD MEETING IN 10 MINUTES!!!!CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!"Bulma leapt off of Vegeta quicker than a Saiyajin could and ran into her walk in (or run in closet :p) closet, looking for a half decent outfit to wear for the meeting.She slipped on her stockings, not caring that she made 3 more runs in them by putting them on in a hurry.She chose a white blouse with a navy blue jacket and matching skirt.Brushing her hair like a demon, she applied her makeup as quick as possible and dashed out the bedroom door, but not without pecking Vegeta on the cheek who was sitting on the edge of the bed and raced into the hallway, trying to put in her earrings.Vegeta was looking at the floor, but he saw nothing except what he thought he had seen when Bulma was on top of him.He could have sworn he saw Bulma's pupils turn into slithers..... like a cat's._**

*****************

Closing her eyes for a moment, she let out a long sigh.Boy, this morning had been hectic.... she thought.First, she was 15 minutes late for a board meeting, then she forgot all of her paperwork at home,had to fire 10 people, and had managed to spill coffee on herself sometime during the day.Squeezing the bridge of her nose, and closing her eyes, she sat like that for a few minutes, her legs crossed on top of her desk and leaning back in her executive chair.All of a sudden, her office door swung open, almost breaking off it's hinges.Surprised by the intrusion, Bulma leaned back too far in her chair, and, waving her hands to keep her balance, proceeded to fall to the floor with a solid "whump".

"Goku-saa!I told you to knock first!!" yelled Chichi at an embarrassed Goku as she whapped his arm, for all of Bulma's employees were staring at them.Chichi turned around and practically roared at the people to mind their own buisness, making them flee from the room.Replacing her anger with her usual placid expression, she walked into the office."Bulma? You here?"Chichi got a moan in response from behind the desk.Goku practically ran and jumped on top of the desk and croutched into an offensive position thinking an enemy was in there, but saw instead the president of Capsule Corp. lying in a heap on the floor.

"Hehe, oi.... I've had such a bad day today.." sighed Bulma, rubbing the back of her head as she got to her feet."So, what can I do for you guys?And Goku,"

"Huh?" 

"You can get off the top of my desk now.I don't see any aliens landing on the planet or anything yet."

"Oh!Hehe...." nervously laughed the Saiyajin with a hand behind his head.With that, he jumped off the desk as Chichi glared at him.

"ANYWAY, Bulma-san, we were wondering if you would like to go out to lunch with us, since we haven't seen you in so long because of your..... um..... eh, hehe,..... well, do you want to come with us?"Bulma's expression lit up with the fact of getting out of the office.

"Sure!Why not?Well, what time is it?"She glanced at the watch on her wrist.It read 11:42."How about I can go home and change out of this outfit and we can meet at the restaurant.Where'd you like to go?"she questioned.

"Well, letsee...." she pondered."The only nice restaurant that allows Goku to come is The Store on South Satan Ave.Sound ok?"

"Yeah, that sounds great.I'll meet you guys there at 12:30, ok?"Both Goku and Chichi nodded their heads as Bulma escorted them to the door of her office."I have to just get a few things done before I leave, so would you mind walking yourselves to your car, or however it is you got here?" as she nodded at Goku..

"Yeah, that's ok.See ya then Bulma!" said Chichi as she waved goodbye.

"Yeah! Bai bai Bulma!"said Goku as he gave her a peace sign.Bulma chuckled to herself as she walked back into her office and closed the door, glancing at her watch again.Looking up, her breath caught in her throat as a black haired man's hand lashed out and grabbed her throat, choking off any noise she would have made.A red bandana was tied around his neck, and he wore a Red Ribbon Army jacket.Bulma couldn't help but have a feeling that she had seen him somewhere as her eyes widened in fear and lack of oxygen.

"What's the matter?Cat got your tongue?" he growled, almost seductively, leaning his head slightly to one side."Oh, but don't worry about that.We shall be watching you very closely, Bulma-chan."He pulled her face closer to his own, and she could feel his warm breath tickling the hairs on her face as his blue eyes pierced her own.He gently stroked the skin over her jugular with his thumb and whispered, "**I will be watching you closely."With that, he shoved her head back, making her head hit the door behind her solidly.Groaning, she fell to the floor.He threw his head back and laughed as he took off out of the open window at such high speeds that Bulma couldn't see which direction he went.Bulma's heart was pounding, trying to get enough air to her lungs.Struggling to her feet, she ran to the coat hook on the side of her office, yanked the solitary jacket off and ran out the door.Her secretaries looked at the president racing through the hallways, and went back to business, pushing it away as a normal moment of weirdness that happened pretty often.She ran down the stairs, not wanting to be kept in the tiny space of the elevator, almost tripping on her high heeled shoes, and burst into the parking lot, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.She shoved her hand into her coat pocket while she was running and threw the capsule ahead of her.A Porshe appeared, and she jumped into it, shoved the key into the ignition, and pressed the accelerator all the way to the floor, and zoomed off.Juunana-gou looked at the speeding car from behind a concrete column of the garage and smiled to himself.He loved freaking people out, and he was just getting started.**

**************************

Her heart was still racing and adrenaline was pulsing through her veins.She swerved around some slow moving cars and yelled at the others that were in her way.She didn't care - she just wanted to get home.Finally, over the rise of a hill, she saw the gold tinted houses of Capsule Corporation.Her foot slammed on the break, making a shrill squeaking noise erupt from it as she jumped from the car.She just hoped Vegeta was home.She ran to the door, and had to grab the door handle to keep her balance, for a wave of dizziness suddenly took her senses.Her heart was still beating at a rapid pace, and only had enough energy to turn the knob and open the door before she collapsed just inside the house.

**************************

A swift kick flew out of no where, and an right uppercut followed suit, killing an imaginary robot.Sweat poured from his brow.All of a sudden, a high loud squeal coming from the house and a door slam after that.His curiosity piqued, as well as his annoyance, Vegeta shut down the gravity machine and walked outside into the fresh air, laying a towel around his neck.Sliding open the glass door, he stepped inside the house and walked around.Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the front door was open, and that a figure was laying on the floor, unmoving.Vegeta swiftly sprinted over there, to find that Bulma was the figure.He brought his arms around her frail body, not knowing if she was alive or not.He placed a hand over her heart and thankfully, he felt a heartbeat, although her heart was pumping at an amazing rate.He gently lifted her up, pushed the door closed with his foot, and brought her to the living room, where an overstuffed gray sofa sat off to the side.Vegeta gently placed her on it, sliding his hands out from under her.He left for a minute, and returned with a wooden chair from the dining room under his arm which he straddled, watching his mate warily.Her breathing was very rapid as well, as if she had been running, but it finally started to calm down after a few minutes.Vegeta watched her, his eyebrows forked together, and his usual frown was on his face.He reached out a hand and placed it on her heart once more, seeing if it had calmed down.At his touch, Bulma's eyes burst open, and she grabbed his arm with sudden strength.Vegeta was surprised at how hard she gripped, and also about the fcat that her eyes had gone catlike again.All of a sudden, she shrieked and jumped behind the sofa.Vegeta shook out his arm, and raised an ebony eyebrow at her, who still croutched behind the sofa.

"A little high-strung, aren't we?" he said.Bulma stood and put her hands on her hips.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" she screamed at him."I am in a very, VERY bad mood right now Vegeta and I swear to Kami if you put any moves on me, you will be very, VERY SORRY!!" she shouted at him.

"Kuso, woman!I'm already sorry!My god damned ears are ringing because of you!"Bulma let out a sigh of annoyance and threw her arms up.She looked at her watch.

"Holy crap!Vegeta!You'll make me late for my lunch!Crap! Chichi's gonna kill me!"With that, she rushed up the stairs to change (again) , and after a few minutes, Vegeta saw Bulma rush down the stairs and hop in her car and she drove off towards the restaurant.He watched the car until it was only a speck in the distance.

"Women..."he grumbled."With my fucking luck, I had to bond with an EARTH woman!" whacking his head, he grumbled to himself as he walked to the gravity room.


	8. In the Nick of Time

Chapter 2: Captivity Megan Myers Megan Myers 2 5 2001-11-03T22:43:00Z 2001-11-03T22:43:00Z 3 1424 8122 67 16 9974 9.2720 0 6 pt 6 pt 0 

Chapter 8:  In the Nick of Time

            The black Porsche arrived in a cloud of dust in the parking lot behind the restaurant, and Bulma jumped out of the car, not bothering to open the car door.  There were only a few parking spaces left, so she was only able to park all the way in the back, forcing her to run to the restaurant.  *Oi, my legs are starting to get cramped from all this running!*  Luckily, when she had changed back at the house, she had the foresight to change in to a pair of sneakers.  As she ran to the side entrance to The Store, she flipped her watch up to read it:  12:35.  *shit shit shit shit shit shit shit* she cursed at herself.  Chichi was the last person she wanted to get on the bad side of.  Even the greatest warrior in the universe was scared of her temper.  *I can't really blame him...*  She let out a nervous chuckle.  Finally reaching the back entrance, she flung the door open and ran into a brick wall.  Or that's what it felt like to her.  Plopping on the ground on her butt, she slowly rubbed her bruised nose and opened one of her eyes to look upon black spiky hair and a nervous grin.

"Um, hehe, sorry 'bout that, Bulma....."  Goku extended a hand to her, and she gladly took it as he heaved her back onto her feet as if he were picking up a piece of paper.

"It's ok, Son Kun, I should have been watching where I was going."  Lowering her hand from her nose to make sure there was no blood coming out, she gave Goku a questionable look.  "Um, where's Chichi?"  Before the last syllable left her mouth, Chichi stepped out from behind Goku, rubbing her own nose, but not before whacking Goku in the back of the head.

"Goku-saa!  Why did you stop dead in your tracks like that?  I ran into you from behind!"  Chichi's gaze then fell upon Bulma, as well as her slightly red nose.  "Bulma-san!"  She said as she stalked up to Bulma, as Bulma cringed a little, awaiting the screaming of a life time.  "We were worried about you!  What happened?"  Chichi walked up to her and placed an arm around Bulma's shoulders.  "And what happend to your nose?"  She said as she pointed to Bulma's nose.

"Um.... ANYways, uh, how long have you guys been waiting for me?"  said a very nervous Bulma, trying to steer the conversation away from her bruised nose.  Chichi looked at Bulma's watch.

"Well, you told us to meet you here at 12, so that's how long we've been here.  Speaking of which,"  Chichi unwrapped her arm from around Bulma's shoulders and looked her straight in the eye.  "Why _were you late, Bulma-san?  You never did tell me why you were late.  It's not like you - usually you're always on time.  Is everything alright?"  At that very moment, all of Bulma's sweat pores seemed to open up and drenched her in a nervous sweat.  Well, that's the way it felt to her._

"Um, I, uh, I had some paper work to do after work that I didn't know would take me so long to fill them out.  Gomen nasai, Chichi-san.  And then my car wouldn't--"  Bulma's sentence was cut off abruptly as a loud, rumbling growl filled the room.  All eyes landed on a very red faced Goku, who put his hands on his stomach and lowered his eyes to the floor in embarrassment.  "Hehe.  Well, since Son-kun seems so eager to eat, why don't we go back inside for what we came for.  And it'll be my treat, since I was so late."  Bulma wrapped an arm around an very reassured Goku at the thought of eating and went back inside with Chichi trailing behind with a very wary expression on her face.

*****************************

            "Hello, and welcome to The Store.  My name is Charles and I'll be your waiter for today."  They each were handed a crimson menu from him, and were told what the specials of the day were.  Chichi and Bulma were looking at the waiter, listening intently to what he was saying so that they wouldn't have to ask him to repeat it again.  Goku, on the other hand, was busy trying to figure out how to unfold his napkin (even I have that problem sometimes too ^^()).  Although he never used a napkin, Chichi insisted that he at least put it in his lap to keep him from staining one of his gis so she wouldn't have to wash it (again).  The waiter finished telling the specials and asked them what they would like to drink.

"A glass of white zinfindel for me please."  requested Bulma.

"Um, same for me too, please." said Chichi.  The waiter scribbled it down in the notepad he had removed from his pocket, and after he finished writing it down, he looked to Goku. But Goku was too preoccupied with trying to balance the silver spoon on his nose to notice.  The waiter slightly raised a brown eyebrow.  "..... and a glass of water for him."  quickly said Chichi, a slight red blush apparent on her cheeks.

"Very well.  I will take your orders when I return with your drinks." he said and swiftly departed.  Chichi whacked Goku on the shoulder, causing him to lose his concentration and the spoon fell off his nose and onto the table.  "Goku-saa!!  At least _try to act civil for Bulma-san's sake, please..."  Goku had the grace to look sorry.  Sighing, Bulma looked out the window that was next to their table that overlooked the city.  The receptionist at the lobby of the restaurant knew very well who Bulma was, and thus led them personally to a reserved table by itself in the corner.  *At least this way no one will have to watch Son kun eat...* thought Bulma._

"Bulma?" questioned Chichi.  Bulma whipped her head around to look at Chichi.

"Sorry?  What were you saying?"

"Well, I was asking how Vegeta was doing."

"Oh!  He's fine, by Saiyajin standards at least.  Train by day, eat by night, a little sleep here and there."  Bulma chuckled at this.  "Basically, that's all he does.  I don't see him much since he's always in the gravity room training."  Chichi nodded her head in understanding.  She of all people knew how Bulma felt.  "So, how is Gohan-kun?  I haven't seen him in awhile."  Chichi perked up at the sound of her son's name.

"Gohan-chan?  He's alright.  He's at college, getting his doctorate.(my apologies to anyone in college.  I have no clue what a doctorate or a bachelor's degree is. it sounded good, so i stuck it in ^-^())  He was just home for spring break a few weeks ago." 

"I just can't believe he's in college already!  It makes me feel old!"  Chichi laughed with her at this, although neither of them looked their age.  If anything, Chichi looked like she had a few years on Bulma, though Bulma was the elder.

"I know!  I can't believe my Gohan-kun has grown up so fast!  It seems like yesterday that I was still changing his diapers for him!"  Bulma stopped laughing suddenly, and put up a weak smile, but Chichi saw through it.

"I wouldn't know, Chichi...."  Bulma trailed off as she sighed.  Her eyes got a little misty, but she forced the tears away.  Chichi patted her hand helpfully.

"It's okay, Bulma.  You'll get your time soon enough.  Vegeta will pull through yet."  Goku looked up from his placemat where he was doing the crossword puzzle when Chichi said that.  A small smile crept across his face when he sensed a small ki growing from Bulma as they spoke.  *They'll find out soon enough...* he thought.  *Now, what's missing word to 'Why did the ______ cross the road?*

************************

            So, after a few more minutes chatting about either clothes, Capsule Corp., Gohan, or yelling at Goku, the waiter finally returned with their drinks.  He gently placed the drinks in front of their respective owners, and stood up, again taking the notepad from his pocket.  He removed a pen with the restaurant's logo and phone number on it from his chest pocket and flipped through the used sheets of paper from previous orders until he found a clean sheet.  Bulma and Chichi glanced at their menus once again to get their orders right as Goku stared blankly out the window watching the grass grow.

"Are you ready to order now, ladies?" he asked, eyeing Goku out of the corner of his eye.

"Yes, we are," said Bulma, speaking for all of them.  "Chichi, you can go first."  The waiter shifted to face Chichi and poised his pen above the pad ready to write.

"Um, I'll have the Chicken Marsala in the tomato cream sauce." she said, holding up the menu and pointed to it.  The waiter furiously scribbled on the pad.

"And how would you like your chicken done?" he asked politely.

"Medium rare, please."  Charles scribbled a little after this, then turned to face Bulma once again.

"And I'll have the Caesar salad with seasoned chicken, please." said Bulma. (you can tell i like chicken ^_^() cluck cluck!)  Charles again wrote in his pad, and after about a minute of writing, he hesitantly turned to Goku.  "And you, sir?  What would you like?"  

"Two of everything."  Chichi glared at him.  "Please," he added quickly.  Charles' eyebrows quirked at this.

"E-excuse me?"

"I said two of everything, please," repeated Goku.  Charles looked to Bulma for help, and gave her a kind of he-can't-possibly-be-serious look.

"Well, you heard him, Charles.  He wants two of everything." she said calmly.

"Y-you can't be serious! Nobody can eat that much!"  *You'd be surprised,* thought Bulma.  She suddenly started to pull out of her chair.

"Well, I guess that means we'll have to go elsewhere for a decent meal, because we're _obviously not going to get it here."  She gave Chichi a quick wink, recieving a small smile in return._

"No! It's ok!"  Charles gently pushed her back into her seat, because he knew if they didn't satisfy the demands of the president of the biggest company in the world, the restaurant's reputation would be ruined.  "Two of everything it is.  This might take awhile."  He quickly turned on his heel and stormed into the kitchen.  Bulma and Chichi giggled at his back.

"Hehe, reverse psychology.  Works everytime."  Bulma laughed, as she relaxed in her seat waiting for her food to come.


	9. Moment of Warning

Chapter 9:  Moment of Warning

            Stream billowed out of the gigantic pot like pea soup out of a fog machine; it rolled lazily around the large room before finally disappearing, leaving everything there with a slippery, wet feel to it.  Spices and seasonings lined the shelves, sitting next to boxes of rigatoni noodles and bottles of chicken boullion.  The people were at work, minding their own buisness.  That is, until a man burst through the double doors, causing them to hit the walls behind them.  Everyone jumped at the sound and turned to look at the pale faced man with a name tag reading "Charles".

"That damn vaccuum cleaner of a man is back again, and it's his usual order."  Every cook in the kitchen uttered a unifyed groan; this was the second time this month that man had come here to eat.  "But do it quickly this time!"  he added.  The heads once again turned to look at Charles questioningly.  "Miss Breifs, the president of Capsule Corporation, is here with him, so _try to make a good impression."  Their eyes widened at that, and hurried off to seldom opened cabinets, which contained pots and pans reserved for either sumo wrestles, or Goku.  All the chefs then proceeded to pour everything on the shelves into the massive pots.  If they wanted to keep their jobs, they had to do this quicker than normal._

"Figures," one of the chefs in the back mumbled.  His own name tag read "Ramone - Chef since 9/91".  "That on the last day of work before my vacation, that bakayarou has to show up and get his usual order...."  The chef rolled his eyes as he poured an over sized package of spaghetti noodles into a large pot of boiling water.  Because of all the clanging of pots and the random shouts of profanity, no one noticed a figure coming in the kitchen doors that the recievers from the trucks used to bring all the supplies in once every week.  If anyone had looked at the lock on the outside of the doors, they would have found it the bright red color of melting iron.  The figure slowly crept towards the back of the kitchen, where the mumbling cook was cooking the spaghetti sauce.

"A pinch of basil..."  In went the basil into a steel bowl Ramone had taken down from the wooden shelf above the steaming pot.  "A dash of thyme...."  In went the thyme.  "A swig of arsenic...."  This last ingrediant was only thought of, but it still caused the chef to chuckle insanely under his breath when he thought of what he would like to do to Goku.  The figure suddenly popped up behind the chef, and a thin beam of clear ki from the figure's right pointer finger seared it's way through the man's chest, piercing the left lung, and the heart, causing it to explode right in his chest.  The man coughed up a gush of blood, and was dead before he hit the ground, his dark maroon blood spraying from the hole onto the white tiled floor.  His eyes lost their pupils (death by akira toriyama)  and the bowl he was holding before started to fall.  The figure, with its unnatural speed, caught it before it hit the ground.  Taking off the dead man's name tag and getting a spare jacket from the closet and putting it over it's muscular form, the figure slowly wound it's way around the kitchen, synthesizing the chef's voice with it's mechanical voicebox.

*********************

"Add some more parmesean cheese in there!"  "Is that all you've done so far?  Hurry up, for God's sake!"  "We can't keep Miss Bulma waiting!"  "I could do this faster myself, and I burn water!"  Charles quickly went from chef to chef, checking on their progress and yelling at those who were lagging behind, because it had already been 35 minutes, and not even a quarter of the food Goku had ordered was ready.  Sweat was pouring down his pale and stressed face as he shouted orders at random chefs.  A nervous twitch under his right eye started to jump, and a single vein in his neck started to throb dully with the stress.  A sudden and light tap on his right shoulder caused him to turn around questioningly, only to see Ramone, the hot steam swirling between both of them.

"What is it, Ramone?  Can't you see I'm busy right now?"

"Yes, I can see that.  But there's something back at my station that I think you have to see."  Letting out an annoyed sigh, Charles followed Ramone to the back of the kitchen where his station was, yelling at people to hurry up the whole way.

"Now what is it?  Miss Bulma isn't going to wai-"  Charles was abruptly cut off by the sight of Ramone, crumpled on the floor like a weathered and beat rag doll in a spreading pool of his own blood, flecks of cardiac and lung muscle scattered around and on his chest.  His stomach did a queasy flip flop inside him, and the gagging reflex at the back of his throat was stopped only by sheer force of will on his part.  "W-w-what....... R-r-r-am-mone....."  With questions blazing in his eyes, Charles looked up at the figure who was standing in front of him, but instead saw a man with black hair, a well-built body and gray eyes that had an evil intent in them, burning like the fires of hell.

"Miss Bulma isn't going to wait much longer..."  the man whispered as he paused, leaning forward a little to look at his name tag.  "...Charles.  She's in good hands now."  Juunana-gou put his two hands together in front of his face, palms towards Charles, as if deflecting a basketball.  Flares of ki burst forth from his hands, slicing Charles' neck, severing the trachea, larnyx, spine, and nerve cord, killing him with a quick slice.  Charles' head fell to the floor with a dull thud, the mouth still opening and closing like a fish trying to breathe air.  His body still stood up for a few seconds before Juunana-gou pushed it over with one finger.  It collapsed on the floor, its name tag flopping on its pocket, the hands twitching sporadically before stopping with one final spasm.

"Now it's my turn to serve Miss Briefs."  Juunana-gou said with no emotion.

***************************

"Goku-saa, the fork goes in your right hand, and the knife goes in the left." chided Chichi, leaning over the table trying to manipulate Goku's hands to hold the fork and knife correctly.  "That is, except when you're cutting something, when the fork goes in your _left hand, and the knife goes in the__ right.  So that way, you have to switch the fork to the right hand when you are putting it into your mouth.  Got it?"  Goku had a pathetic look of utter desperation on his childish face, and Bulma had no choice but to laugh._

"It gets easier when you start to get used to it, Son Kun."  Bulma looked at her friends with her head gently cradled in her right hand.

"Oi, Chichi!  Can't I just eat with my hands like I always do?" Goku pleaded, looking to Bulma for support.  Instead, she replied, "You actually use your hands?  Most of the time when I watch you eat, you just inhale the food with your hands just simply holding the plate at a better angle for eating."  Bulma and Chichi looked at each other, and burst out laughing, a slight shade of rose creeping into Goku's embarrassed cheeks ( on his face, but hey, ya never know... ^_^() ).  The sound of many pairs of footsteps approaching them made Bulma and Chichi stop their laughing and turn towards it.  15 chefs holding 2 silver coated plates each were heading in their direction, wonderful smells eminating from underneath the covers.  One chef approached them from the front of the crowd, only carrying a single plate, and set it majestically in front of Chichi, trying to make a good impression on Bulma-san.  His hands shook minutely from his nervousness.  With a flair, he lifted the cover to reveal the meal she ordered.

"The Chicken Marsala, I believe?" he asked politely.

"Yes, thank you very much."  She glanced back to the pack of chefs lined up behind this one.  "Are you sure you got all of Goku's order?" she questioned.  A few of the chefs holding the plates were fidgeting because the bottom of the plates were slowly getting too hot for them, their hands were turning an unnatural shade of red.  A small sweatdrop appeared on the chef's forehead as he said, "Well, a few of the orders are still being prepared, but they will be finished soon, I assure you."  Moving away from the table and with a small flick of his hand, the chefs slowly brought the orders to the table.  Plate after plate went in front of Goku, and a small stream of drool appeared rolling down from his mouth and falling off his chin.  Bulma could see part of his tongue sticking out of the side of his mouth as the plates continue to pile up in front of him.  A hand suddenly appeared in front of her, startling her out of her thoughts.  The plate in the hand slid gently onto the table in front of her.

"Miss Bulma?  Are you alright?"  Bulma looked at his nametag quickly.  

"Yes, Charles.  I'm fine.  Just thinkin-"  Just then, Bulma noticed that the sleeve on the arm in front of her was fitting very tightly, when she certainly remembered that the jacket had fit Charles quite loosely.  Questioningly, she looked into the face the hovered by her shoulder, and the blood ran out of her face as fear gripped her chest, squeezing all air out of her.  Her heart skipped a few beats, but Bulma was numb to everything except the fear as she looked into the face of Juunana-gou.

"I told you I'd be watching you carefully, Bulma-chan...." he whispered lightly into her as he lightly licked her cheek with his tongue.  

"-san?  Bulma-san?  Are you alright?  What's the matter?"  But Chichi's questions fell upon deaf ears as sudden pain seared it's way through Bulma's entire body - every nerve and muscle seemed to be set on fire inside of her.  Her heart, which had been skipping beats only 10 seconds before, had switched gears and was now pounding away at an alarmingly fast rate inside her chest.   Bulma wrapped her arms around herself tightly and squeezed her eyes shut as the pain quickly became unbearable, gasping at the quickness of it.  It was like someone had taken all of her insides and were squeezing them to the point of crushing them.  Goku looked up at Bulma, and his eyebrows quickly forked together as he saw Juunana-gou standing beside her.  Goku could sense no ki whatsoever emanating from him.  "What did you do to Bulma??" he roared as he leapt over the table, breaking the hold Juunana-gou's hand had on the back of Bulma's neck.  Juunana-gou disappeared from Goku's view for a moment before he reappeared in front of the window on the opposite side of the room.

"Wait a moment, Kakarotto, and you will see."  he simply replied as he fazed out.

"NOO!" Goku screamed.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 He was going to try to follow Juunana-gou, but the sound of a woman's screams stopped him.  Goku quickly flew back to Bulma, pushing his way through the crowd of people.  When he finally broke through, he saw his wife trying to get a hold of Bulma, but Bulma roughly shook her off as she writhed on the floor; her body bending back and forth in spasms; cold sweat covered her entire body, making her clothes stick to her.  Chichi once again tried to get her arms around her, but she was flung into the crowd of people by Bulma, who suddenly had such strength.  But she was quickly back on the floor, screaming in pain as she wrapped her arms around her midsection, tears of agony streaming down her face.  Goku finally came back to his senses as Bulma started knocking over tables and chairs trying to find some way to alleviate the pain, and quickly disappeared and reappeared in front of her.  Her screaming hurt his Saiyajin hearing, but nonetheless he grabbed her arms to keep her from hurting herself and others.  Extremely surprising to him, he had a very difficult time holding on to her.  Because he had underestimated her strength, she ripped out of his grip and scratched 5 deep cuts up his neck and across his cheek from her fingernails.  Goku paid the pain no mind as he gripped her again, now using all his strength to keep a hold of her.  Bulma's screams continued, her hands gripped tightly his shirt - Goku's blood and skin were dripping from her nails, more like _claws, actually, her teeth struggling to stay clenched.  And even though she was shaking so hard, Goku could see that her eye teeth were slowly pulling away from her gums, extending them about 1/2" longer than what they should be.  Her entire body was convulsing, and her lungs finally could no longer keep up with her air intake, and they suddenly froze, choking Bulma from the inside.  The presence of her screams slowly dwindled down to the whistling sound of air trying to get in her nonfunctional lungs.  Her eyes opened as they bulged from her head, her slither pupils widening and contracting as black dots formed in her field of vision.  She was looking through Goku, as images from her subconscious suddenly formed in front of her eyes.  Vegeta, on that night they took her, being held by Juunana-gou.  The cage that held her captive.  The tank that they used to immobilize her with.  Dr. Gero hovering above her with a syringe in his hand.  The screaming of the test patients.  The screaming of the iron bars.  The screaming of the captive animals_

_(the screaming the screaming oh god the screaming make it stop oh god they're coming for me vegeta take me home take me home home the screaming make it stop I want to go home vegeta home make the screaming stop oh kami the screaming)_

Her hands in her hair slowly lost their grip, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head until only the whites could be seen as she collapsed on the floor.  Goku held onto her as she became limp, but she still wasn't breathing.  She was dying and she didn't even know it.  He started to panic - he knew he should have given her some of his ki or something, but he still hadn't been trained to use his ki like that.  So he called the one person who could.


	10. Spirited Undertaking

Chapter 10:  Spirited Undertaking

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            If someone had been home that moment at Capsule Corporation, they would have found it empty and as quiet as a graveyard at midnight.  The lab was quiet. The TV in the living room was cold to the touch, the remote flung on the sofa like a discarded rag doll.  And even the kitchen, which normally held the entire family that lived there was devoid of any movement.  But if one knew the family, they would have known about the reclusive Saiyajin who would either be found in the kitchen raiding the refrigerator, in a tree sleeping in the nearby woods, or in the gravity room set away from the Capsule buildings.  The occasional explosion of the gravity room would cause no more than a slight tremor in the buildings, or some plates would fall from their places on the few days when the Saiyajin was more pissed than normal.  And it was at this very moment, like most other days, one could peek into the 6 inch thick glass window to spy upon one of the few creatures who could stand in 400g's.  The Saiyajin wielded a simple iron bar with such grace and fluidity that it was hard to believe that he was not only standing but jumping and flipping in the harsh gravity.  Sweat glistened on his entire upper body as he suddenly shot out a burst of ki around the room, and let them hang in the air, as if suspended.  Backflipping as he turned the bar in fast motion, as he slashed through a ball of ki, he repeated this until one ball remained in the air.  Breathing deeply and slowly, he closed his eyes and tried to focus on the ki and the bar in his hands.  It was strange - he had been having a hard time concentrating during this whole session, as if a ripple in the back of his mind would not remain still, whispering nothings that made no sense.  Focusing even harder this time, he opened his eyes, and with a scream of anger, he lunged at the ki while twirling the bar with the grace of a gymnist.

            **VEGETA!!!!******

            Halfway to the ki, a scream ripped its way through his conciousness.  The pure terror and disparity in that voice rocked him to his core and, losing his focus, crashed to the floor of the gravity room with a sickening crunch.  The voice sounded like it was close to hysterical, pleading, begging..... and he instantly recognized the voice after the momentary grayness in his mind cleared.

            KAKAROTTO!!! WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU GET THE INSOLENCE TO DISTURB ME DURING MY TRAINING SESSION?!?!? he screamed in his mind.

            Vegeta, seriously I'm sorry, but there's not time for that now.  You have to come as quickly as you are physically possible!!

            Vegeta realized that Goku's voice, even in his mind, had a slight tremble to it.

            Well, what's the goddamned trouble then?

            It's Bulma!! spoke Goku.  Vegeta paled without even knowing he was doing it.

            Where are you?

*****************

            Goku had started to do CPR on Bulma, and continued to curse himself for not learning the ki transfer technique that could save Bulma.  He made a mental note to ask Vegeta after this to teach him, but that was inconsiquencial right now.  Only Bulma mattered.

            The shattering and crashing of the window opposite the room signaled the arrival of the Prince of Saiyajins as well as the mate of the dying woman in his arms.  His flame hair jerked up as he spied Goku in the middle of a crowd of people holding his mate - his mate who was not breathing.  With a growl under his breath, he flew across the room, shoving people into the walls and sending them through tables to get to his mate.  Goku, smartly for once, had backed off a little as Vegeta came bursting through the crowd.  Bulma was turning paler every minute as her chest beat with only the frantic pumping of her heart.  He scooped her up into his arms protectively, and with barely a pause, shot through the window next to him, shielding his mate from the shards of glass.  Goku followed suit and flew after Vegeta as if the hounds of hell were on his heels.

*********************

            Finding a secluded patch of woods not far from the restaurant, he landed and hurriedly placed Bulma on the ground and stripped off his gloves.  Goku landed next to him, and asked him why he had flown out here.  Not really listening to him, he absently replied that he didn't wish people to see his mate like this.  Now focusing all his attention on Bulma, he ripped off her plain dark green tank top, revealing the still chest.  Her mouth was open slightly; her eyes only slits of white.  Her hands twitch slightly on the grass.  Breathing deeply, like before, Vegeta rested his palms on her chest and exhaled.  He concentrated on her ki - her tiny flame, flickering like a candle's delicate flame in a howling wind.  Every second it grew smaller and smaller, as she seemingly slipped through his fingers.  Growling deep within his throat, his hands glowed a bright blue as he started to transfer portions of his ki into her dying body.  After 2 minutes, her chest remained still, and her lips growing blue.  Vegeta, now feeling very weak from transfering a little too much ki from himself, stopped his hands from glowing.  Snarling - at himself or at Bulma, I'm not sure - his hands clench into fists upon her chest.  "DAMN YOU, WOMAN!  WAKE UUUUUPPPPPPP!!!!!!"  In a momentary burst of rage, he shot an enormous burst of ki through her body, and collapsed quivering on the ground, murmuring her name like an incantation.

******************

            _It was like she was swimming - her movements slowed, sounds muffled.  Trying to dig herself out of this pit to which she had fallen was nearly impossible.  Her frail human hands could not claw their way out of this one.  Whimpering, she gave up.  Her dream hands fell to her sides; her head droops down until her blue locks cover her eyes and shades her face in shame.  It was no use.  She could not even remember how she had gotten here - nor did it matter anymore.  She was going to die here, and she accepted it with a heavy heart._

*******************

                        "Bulma… wake up.  God damn it, woman, wake up!"  Vegeta lifted his head slowly, for his Saiyajin strength had left him.  "I will not have a dead mate! I will not have a dead mate!"   He tilts his head up to the heavens, as if howling to Kami himself to help him.  The skies, almost in response, open up and it starts to rain a cooling shower, opposite to the hot blood racing in Vegeta's veins.

*******************

            _Steadily sinking into the freezing water, Bulma's head floats up lazy to gaze upwards, towards the light where she used to be.  Longing fills her mind, and remorse for the times and things she will never experience.  A low rumbling floats to her delicate ears, and her head perks up._

            _That voice....._

*******************

            "BULMA!!"

*******************

            _Vegeta!  Her eyes regain that determined gleam; that spark ignited within her once again.  Dammit, she had been through worse than this!  There is no fucking way that she is going down this easily without a fight!!  There is so much she has to learn! To experience!  To feel!  To love...._

_            Her spirit body grew warm as a gold glow surrounded her body and lifted her higher through the murky depths.  The higher she got, the clearer the sound she had heard before.  When before it was a deep rumbling, she could now tell it was her mate screaming her name over and over again._

_            Vegeta!_


	11. Breakdown

Chapter 11: Breakdown

******************

Punches met punches in mid-air; ki met ki as kicks met kicks.  The two Saiyjins were almost equally matched as they battled for supremacy in the Capsule Corporation backyard.  Telling by the position of the sun, which had been in the east, but now was in the west, they had been fighting for about 5 hours and counting.  Goku raised his hand in a sign of pause as he took in a ragged breath and smiled at his bloody sparring partner.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry as hell.  What do you say to a bite to eat from that bottomless pit of a refrigerator you have?" grinned a black and blue Goku as he slowly lowered himself to touch the ground.  Vegeta scoffed at him as he followed suite.  Fortunately, Bulma had located the kitchen in the capsule closest to the backyard.

On the way there, Goku paused for a moment, and looked around the vast backyard.  "Ano, where has Bulma-san gone off too?  It's such a beautiful day today, and she usually comes out to sit out by the pool on days like this."   Hearing Goku, Vegeta also paused and looked towards the empty pool.  Now that he thought about it, he was right.  Bulma usually WAS outside on a day like today; the temperature was about 85 with not a cloud in the sky.   Where had that woman gone off to now?       

"I don't know, Kakarotto."  H etold Goku offhandedly that he was going to the bathroom, yet went in the opposite direction of it.  Wandering through Capsule Corp. would have taken an unfamiliar person hours to find the lab, but for Vegeta, it took less than five minutes to get to the place where Bulma most likely had holed herself for the past few hours.

At the keypad, he typed in the 5 number code from memory and stepped back as the mechanized door swung open silently on well oiled hinges.  The room had no windows because things were always exploding, so the lab was pitch black except for a single light in the corner.  Tools and printer paper were scattered on tables and the floor throughout in a seemingly random fashion, yet even Vegeta was amazed that Bulma knew where everything was when asked.  A printer somewhere to the left was turning out seemingly endless pages of numbers and equations and charts, but Vegeta paid it no mind as he reached the corner of her workplace.  Walking into the light he saw his blue haired mate working on some new contraption, her hair pulled back in a messy pony tail at the base of her neck.  His Saiyajin stealth helped to keep his presence concealed from her.  Bulma had many small tools (screwdrivers, pliers, etc, etc….) on the table in front of her, every so often reaching across to utilize another.  Vegeta leaned over, close to her ear, and whispered

"Boo." 

 A screwdriver wielded by Bulma flew not more than an inch from his face.

"**GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!!!**" she screamed at him, and promptly turned around in her swivel chair and went back to work.  Smirking to himself, he rested his hand on her shoulder, suddenly uneasy about the slight tremble he felt with contact with her.  Softening his voice a little, he asked what she was working on so hard. 

 "You've been cooped in this dark pit for days, woman.  It is not healthy for one…as weak as you to be in here."  At that, she shook his hand off her shoulder roughly.

"If you plan on insulting me, you can leave right now because I have no time to bother with one…as stupid as you." she ground out between her clenched teeth.  Vegeta growled deep in his throat.  Even now he couldn't take it when someone insulted him or his heritage.  He was NOT letting her have the final word.

"Granted, we aren't the most genius race in the universe, but we still conquered almost the entire galaxy with strength and cunning alone."  He replaced his hand on her shoulder, and his other gripped her other shoulder.  "Brains alone don't make one superior, woman.  You, of all, should know that by now…" he said as he laughed evilly in the back of his throat.  

_Enough is enough._  

Bulma paused, then slammed the screwdriver into the desktop.  The vibrations could be felt radiating through the concrete floor.  She grabbed a tool on the side of the desk previously unseen by Vegeta, and this was the shape of a modified handgun, and aimed it at Vegeta's ever-smirking face.

"Brains have worked well enough for me, Vegeta." Her voice was flat and unemotional.  Vegeta's smirk faltered for a moment, but he quickly covered it by crossing his arms and smirking once more.  "I've adapted this gun, as well as the bullets inside it.  Instead of the bullet going straight through a person, the bullet explodes inside the body, and all ki is absorbed into it, leaving the unlucky reciever wounded and extremely weak."  Her aim remained still and straight as her eyes pierced his.  "So I suggest that you stop fucking with my head and get the hell out of my laboratory."  Vegeta waited a few moments, went a step back and took a mock bow and smirked.  "Whatever you wish, my mate." 

And disappeared into the shadows.

A sob broke through her closed mouth, and her arm and hand trembled as she lowered the gun and replaced it to its former spot on her desk.  Bulma slowly sat in her chair, rested her head in her hands, and cried

*********************

Dinner that night was pretty much normal; that is, as normal as any dinner at Capsule Corp. could be, except with the absence of the blue haired inventor.  All three were eating (or, should I say, 2 were eating and the other stuffing his face) when the paler than usual Bulma came in, wearing an oversized sweatshirt and jeans with a hole in the knee.  "Oh, there you are darling," said Mrs. Briefs after a pause to swallow her food.  "I made you a separate dish in case Vegeta-san ate all the food before you got here." She said sweetly, oblivious to the glare Vegeta shot her way as he resumed his focus on the chicken leg in his hand.  An almost Saiyajin grunt came from her as she took the plate and utensils from the place on the table, and walked out of the kitchen.  "My, that girl enjoys her privacy," commented Dr. Briefs as his cat meowed in agreement.

You like? You hate?  Please leave me a note in the review section or in my mailbox ^_^ Ideas and suggestions are always welcome because I'm as clueless as to where this story is going as you guys are, if not more so ^_^() Thanks!


	12. Inevitability

Chapter 10: Spirited Undertaking

If someone had been home that moment at Capsule Corporation, they would have found it empty and as quiet as a graveyard at midnight. The lab was quiet. The TV in the living room was cold to the touch, the remote flung on the sofa like a discarded rag doll. And even the kitchen, which normally held the entire family that lived there was devoid of any movement. But if one knew the family, they would have known about the reclusive Saiyajin who would either be found in the kitchen raiding the refrigerator, in a tree sleeping in the nearby woods, or in the gravity room set away from the Capsule buildings. The occasional explosion of the gravity room would cause no more than a slight tremor in the buildings, or some plates would fall from their places on the few days when the Saiyajin was more pissed than normal. And it was at this very moment, like most other days, one could peek into the 6 inch thick glass window to spy upon one of the few creatures who could stand in 400g's. The Saiyajin wielded a simple iron bar with such grace and fluidity that it was hard to believe that he was not only standing but jumping and flipping in the harsh gravity. Sweat glistened on his entire upper body as he suddenly shot out a burst of ki around the room, and let them hang in the air, as if suspended. Backflipping as he turned the bar in fast motion, as he slashed through a ball of ki, he repeated this until one ball remained in the air. Breathing deeply and slowly, he closed his eyes and tried to focus on the ki and the bar in his hands. It was strange - he had been having a hard time concentrating during this whole session, as if a ripple in the back of his mind would not remain still, whispering nothings that made no sense. Focusing even harder this time, he opened his eyes, and with a scream of anger, he lunged at the ki while twirling the bar with the grace of a gymnist.

**VEGETA!**

Halfway to the ki, a scream ripped its way through his conciousness. The pure terror and disparity in that voice rocked him to his core and, losing his focus, crashed to the floor of the gravity room with a sickening crunch. The voice sounded like it was close to hysterical, pleading, begging... and he instantly recognized the voice after the momentary grayness in his mind cleared.

KAKAROTTO! WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU GET THE INSOLENCE TO DISTURB ME DURING MY TRAINING SESSION? he screamed in his mind.

Vegeta, seriously I'm sorry, but there's not time for that now. You have to come as quickly as you are physically possible!

Vegeta realized that Goku's voice, even in his mind, had a slight tremble to it.

Well, what's the goddamned trouble then?

It's Bulma! spoke Goku. Vegeta paled without even knowing he was doing it.

Where are you?

Goku had started to do CPR on Bulma, and continued to curse himself for not learning the ki transfer technique that could save Bulma. He made a mental note to ask Vegeta after this to teach him, but that was inconsiquencial right now. Only Bulma mattered.

The shattering and crashing of the window opposite the room signaled the arrival of the Prince of Saiyajins as well as the mate of the dying woman in his arms. His flame hair jerked up as he spied Goku in the middle of a crowd of people holding his mate - his mate who was not breathing. With a growl under his breath, he flew across the room, shoving people into the walls and sending them through tables to get to his mate. Goku, smartly for once, had backed off a little as Vegeta came bursting through the crowd. Bulma was turning paler every minute as her chest beat with only the frantic pumping of her heart. He scooped her up into his arms protectively, and with barely a pause, shot through the window next to him, shielding his mate from the shards of glass. Goku followed suit and flew after Vegeta as if the hounds of hell were on his heels.

Finding a secluded patch of woods not far from the restaurant, he landed and hurriedly placed Bulma on the ground and stripped off his gloves. Goku landed next to him, and asked him why he had flown out here. Not really listening to him, he absently replied that he didn't wish people to see his mate like this. Now focusing all his attention on Bulma, he ripped off her plain dark green tank top, revealing the still chest. Her mouth was open slightly; her eyes only slits of white. Her hands twitch slightly on the grass. Breathing deeply, like before, Vegeta rested his palms on her chest and exhaled. He concentrated on her ki - her tiny flame, flickering like a candle's delicate flame in a howling wind. Every second it grew smaller and smaller, as she seemingly slipped through his fingers. Growling deep within his throat, his hands glowed a bright blue as he started to transfer portions of his ki into her dying body. After 2 minutes, her chest remained still, and her lips growing blue. Vegeta, now feeling very weak from transfering a little too much ki from himself, stopped his hands from glowing. Snarling - at himself or at Bulma, I'm not sure - his hands clench into fists upon her chest. "DAMN YOU, WOMAN! WAKE UUUUUPPPPPPP!" In a momentary burst of rage, he shot an enormous burst of ki through her body, and collapsed quivering on the ground, murmuring her name like an incantation.

_It was like she was swimming - her movements slowed, sounds muffled. Trying to dig herself out of this pit to which she had fallen was nearly impossible. Her frail human hands could not claw their way out of this one. Whimpering, she gave up. Her dream hands fell to her sides; her head droops down until her blue locks cover her eyes and shades her face in shame. It was no use. She could not even remember how she had gotten here - nor did it matter anymore. She was going to die here, and she accepted it with a heavy heart._

"Bulma… wake up. God damn it, woman, wake up!" Vegeta lifted his head slowly, for his Saiyajin strength had left him. "I will not have a dead mate! I will not have a dead mate!" He tilts his head up to the heavens, as if howling to Kami himself to help him. The skies, almost in response, open up and it starts to rain a cooling shower, opposite to the hot blood racing in Vegeta's veins.

_Steadily sinking into the freezing water, Bulma's head floats up lazy to gaze upwards, towards the light where she used to be. Longing fills her mind, and remorse for the times and things she will never experience. A low rumbling floats to her delicate ears, and her head perks up._

_That voice..._

"BULMA!"

_Vegeta! Her eyes regain that determined gleam; that spark ignited within her once again. Dammit, she had been through worse than this! There is no fucking way that she is going down this easily without a fight! There is so much she has to learn! To experience! To feel! To love..._

_Her spirit body grew warm as a gold glow surrounded her body and lifted her higher through the murky depths. The higher she got, the clearer the sound she had heard before. When before it was a deep rumbling, she could now tell it was her mate screaming her name over and over again._

_Vegeta!_

Chapter 11: Breakdown

Punches met punches in mid-air; ki met ki as kicks met kicks. The two Saiyjins were almost equally matched as they battled for supremacy in the Capsule Corporation backyard. Telling by the position of the sun, which had been in the east, but now was in the west, they had been fighting for about 5 hours and counting. Goku raised his hand in a sign of pause as he took in a ragged breath and smiled at his bloody sparring partner.

"I don't know about you, but I'm hungry as hell. What do you say to a bite to eat from that bottomless pit of a refrigerator you have?" grinned a black and blue Goku as he slowly lowered himself to touch the ground. Vegeta scoffed at him as he followed suite. Fortunately, Bulma had located the kitchen in the capsule closest to the backyard.

On the way there, Goku paused for a moment, and looked around the vast backyard. "Ano, where has Bulma-san gone off too? It's such a beautiful day today, and she usually comes out to sit out by the pool on days like this." Hearing Goku, Vegeta also paused and looked towards the empty pool. Now that he thought about it, he was right. Bulma usually WAS outside on a day like today; the temperature was about 85 with not a cloud in the sky. Where had that woman gone off to now?

"I don't know, Kakarotto." H etold Goku offhandedly that he was going to the bathroom, yet went in the opposite direction of it. Wandering through Capsule Corp. would have taken an unfamiliar person hours to find the lab, but for Vegeta, it took less than five minutes to get to the place where Bulma most likely had holed herself for the past few hours.

At the keypad, he typed in the 5 number code from memory and stepped back as the mechanized door swung open silently on well oiled hinges. The room had no windows because things were always exploding, so the lab was pitch black except for a single light in the corner. Tools and printer paper were scattered on tables and the floor throughout in a seemingly random fashion, yet even Vegeta was amazed that Bulma knew where everything was when asked. A printer somewhere to the left was turning out seemingly endless pages of numbers and equations and charts, but Vegeta paid it no mind as he reached the corner of her workplace. Walking into the light he saw his blue haired mate working on some new contraption, her hair pulled back in a messy pony tail at the base of her neck. His Saiyajin stealth helped to keep his presence concealed from her. Bulma had many small tools (screwdrivers, pliers, etc, etc….) on the table in front of her, every so often reaching across to utilize another. Vegeta leaned over, close to her ear, and whispered

"Boo."

A screwdriver wielded by Bulma flew not more than an inch from his face.

"**GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!**" she screamed at him, and promptly turned around in her swivel chair and went back to work. Smirking to himself, he rested his hand on her shoulder, suddenly uneasy about the slight tremble he felt with contact with her. Softening his voice a little, he asked what she was working on so hard.

"You've been cooped in this dark pit for days, woman. It is not healthy for one…as weak as you to be in here." At that, she shook his hand off her shoulder roughly.

"If you plan on insulting me, you can leave right now because I have no time to bother with one…as stupid as you." she ground out between her clenched teeth. Vegeta growled deep in his throat. Even now he couldn't take it when someone insulted him or his heritage. He was NOT letting her have the final word.

"Granted, we aren't the most genius race in the universe, but we still conquered almost the entire galaxy with strength and cunning alone." He replaced his hand on her shoulder, and his other gripped her other shoulder. "Brains alone don't make one superior, woman. You, of all, should know that by now…" he said as he laughed evilly in the back of his throat.

_Enough is enough._

Bulma paused, then slammed the screwdriver into the desktop. The vibrations could be felt radiating through the concrete floor. She grabbed a tool on the side of the desk previously unseen by Vegeta, and this was the shape of a modified handgun, and aimed it at Vegeta's ever-smirking face.

"Brains have worked well enough for me, Vegeta." Her voice was flat and unemotional. Vegeta's smirk faltered for a moment, but he quickly covered it by crossing his arms and smirking once more. "I've adapted this gun, as well as the bullets inside it. Instead of the bullet going straight through a person, the bullet explodes inside the body, and all ki is absorbed into it, leaving the unlucky reciever wounded and extremely weak." Her aim remained still and straight as her eyes pierced his. "So I suggest that you stop fucking with my head and get the hell out of my laboratory." Vegeta waited a few moments, went a step back and took a mock bow and smirked. "Whatever you wish, my mate."

And disappeared into the shadows.

A sob broke through her closed mouth, and her arm and hand trembled as she lowered the gun and replaced it to its former spot on her desk. Bulma slowly sat in her chair, rested her head in her hands, and cried

Dinner that night was pretty much normal; that is, as normal as any dinner at Capsule Corp. could be, except with the absence of the blue haired inventor. All three were eating (or, should I say, 2 were eating and the other stuffing his face) when the paler than usual Bulma came in, wearing an oversized sweatshirt and jeans with a hole in the knee. "Oh, there you are darling," said Mrs. Briefs after a pause to swallow her food. "I made you a separate dish in case Vegeta-san ate all the food before you got here." She said sweetly, oblivious to the glare Vegeta shot her way as he resumed his focus on the chicken leg in his hand. An almost Saiyajin grunt came from her as she took the plate and utensils from the place on the table, and walked out of the kitchen. "My, that girl enjoys her privacy," commented Dr. Briefs as his cat meowed in agreement.

Chapter 12: Inevitability

It had been three weeks since the altercation in the laboratory, and the Briefs house had been rippling with tension ever since. Bulma was a ghost – drifting waftily through rooms, barely acknowledging anything or anyone in her midst. Her face gaunt from lack of sleep, everyone presumed, was chalked up to the ever increasing number of hours she spent holed up in her dark research room. Vegeta, sensing something was off, nevertheless stayed generally out of her way, assuming that it was a human biological cycle that Saiyajins had long ago purged out of their females. Avoiding did not mean not watching, however - as the days grew into weeks, the side glances he stole at his ever shrinking mate increased, as well as his unease. It didn't help that everyone else in the consistently strange household paid her no mind. Genius works like that sometimes, they would say.

Bulma was once again hunched over the desk as she was wont to, these days. While three weeks ago she kept the room at a dusk-like light setting, now it was nearly pitch black except for the gentle light diode she kept on a top shelf pointed towards the ceiling. The light seemed to hurt her sensitive eyes more and more, but she paid little mind to that fact as her brain was occupied by more important things. The desk was littered with powerful microscopes and glass slides, computer chips and needles; the woman responsible for the mess sat on her chair, muttering the same phrases to herself over and over again.

_There must be something I'm missing._

_What is the link?_

_Why is this happening to me?_

_WHAT is happening to me?_

The urges were getting worse, she admitted to herself. Whatever Dr. Gero and his cronies had done to her, it was getting worse. Her skin, if touched, was hot like after a long day of burning in the sun, and it felt like her body was in a constant state of anticipation, trembling as if on the precipice of fight-or-flight, feeling like only her skin was keeping her in one piece. It made it hard to work for long stretches - after a while, she would have to get up and walk around, sweating profusely, swallowing the primal urge to howl her frustration at not knowing what was happening to her. She knew it was something genetic, something that was constantly evolving… towards what end game, she did not know. After pacing the room, she sat heavily back in her chair and rested her face in her hands. This constant state of excitement was wearing her thin, more than she wanted to admit, and her research was getting her nowhere.

After a long, rumbling sigh, she came to a decision. Why fight it any longer? Was the unremitting pain and stress of trying to keep whatever she was becoming under wraps better than simply accepting the fact that for once, this was out of her control? She raised her head up from her hands, staring into the darkness of the empty room with unfocused eyes and made a decision. She would do what was most frightening – give up control and let the fates take her where they will. Leaving would have to be immediate, she thought. I don't know what's going to happen, and I don't want anyone doing the dumb thing of coming to rescue me when I don't know what they'll find when they get there. Wiping her sweaty face with her hands, she turned off the light and walked to the lab door, still able to see better than any normal person should. _Don't think about it, girl_. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other. She picked up a dufflebag on her way out on the bottom shelf of a cabinet, the one which was always packed… a girl never knows when she'll have to leave somewhere in a hurry.

Off-planet, that's where she would have to go to make sure she kept everyone she loved out of danger, Bulma decided. Even Vegeta, the pompous prick, she thought as she smiled wearily to herself. The man just didn't know when to listen to her sometimes… act first, ask for permission later, she nodded to herself. She slowed her pace as she walked in front of their door, the door to the bedroom that they had shared since finally realizing a long time ago that as much as they drove each other to the brink of sanity, it drew them together like moths to the fire. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't leave without seeing him. But it would be on her terms, damnit.

She opened the door slowly, ever so slowly. Even when asleep and under a light sheet, Vegeta still cut a powerful figure – strong, calloused hands twitching with sleep, eyebrows ever so slightly furrowed, shoulders that looked like they could carry the weight of the world, and had several times. Her eyes, with the ever so slitted pupils, softened with both an immense sense of love and sorrow for that which must be. Reaching the bed after silently slipping past obstacles of discarded clothes, Bulma leaned over her Saiyajin mate and breathed in his smell, imprinting it in her memory. Pulling back, she wasn't surprised to see his intense eyes staring back at her.

"Going somewhere?" he rumbled, still laying on the bed. _Shit, I knew I should have left the dufflebag outside the door_, she berated herself. Not having the energy to spin another lie, she answered truthfully.

"Yes." "And something tells me you were hoping for a smooth escape," he affirmed, not bothering to ask the question they both knew the answer to. "Yes," she said simply. Vegeta shifted to sit up, but Bulma gently, but with more strength than he anticipated, put her hand on his chest to stop him from getting up further. Reaching into her back pocket with her other hand, she pulled out a thin, long object. Bulma leaned down and kissed him, tenderly but with urgency, tears brimming on her lashes. Quicker than any normal human, she jammed the needle into Vegeta's side, pushing its contents into his bloodstream. His eyes shot open as he pulled back and snarled like his oozaru form, glancing down to see the now empty needle sticking out from between his ribs. "It's for both of our own goods," sobbed Bulma as she rose from the bed, her hands covering her eyes.

"What did you fucking inject me with?" he roared as the needle whizzed past her to shatter against the wall behind her. Backing away, Bulma couldn't answer, shaking her head from side to side. Taking one step, Vegeta's eyes unfocused slightly, realizing that she gave him a tranquilizer far too late. He fell to his knees, leaning against the bed as his arms lost their feeling. "You… you bitch. Going to leave like…a coward." Kneeling on the floor next to him, blue eyes wavering with unshed tears as others tracked down her cheeks, Bulma caressed his face with the back of her hand. "Whatever, baka. I don't want you around until I figure out what's going on with me. You may think you're invincible, but I don't want to take that chance." The last thing Vegeta saw before falling back onto the floor was Bulma running out of the room like the hounds of hell were chasing her. And who knows, maybe they actually were, he thought as everything went black.


End file.
